Caribbean Countries Sign Agreements Deepening Regional Integration Movement

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PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – St. Vincent and the Grenadines has signed on to
the new Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Multilateral Air Services Agreement
(MASA) as the 29th Inter-Sessional Summit moved in its final day on Tuesday.

The agreement expands the scope for airlines owned by CARICOM nationals
to provide air services throughout the 15-member grouping.

CARICOM HaitiThe CARICOM Secretariat said that the agreement allows for
no restriction on routes, capacity or traffic rights and should facilitate increased
intra-regional travel and provide more cargo options for exporters and importers
with resulting cost savings.

“This should provide a major boost to the regional transportation sector which
is a critical aspect of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME),” that
allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the
region.

The signing of the MASA, was one of five agreements signed by CARICOM
leaders on Tuesday.

Barbados Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart signed the CARICOM Arrest Warrant
Treaty and the revised agreement establishing the Caribbean Examinations
Council (CXC).

The CARICOM Arrest Warrant Treaty, which has already signed by some
member states, simplifies the procedure of returning fugitives to the country
where charges have been laid.

The revised agreement establishing the Barbados-based CXC seeks to update
the CXC’s legal structure in light of subsequent organisational practices, recent
market developments and current needs, with particular emphasis on
accommodating requests from additional territories and institutions to join or
otherwise participate in the CXC.

Montserrat’s Education, Health and Youth Minister, Delmaude Ryan, signed on
to the accord establishing the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education
in Medicine and other Health Professions, and the agreement establishing the
Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREE). –
CMC