GEORGE­TOWN–The 15-na­tion Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (Cari­com) will be fund­ing all fu­ture ne­go­ti­a­tions it­self, ac­cord­ing to Guyana's For­eign Min­is­ter Car­olyn Ro­drigues-Bir­kett. She re­cent­ly in­formed the 65-seat Na­tion­al As­sem­bly, cur­rent ne­go­ti­a­tions be­tween Cari­com and Cana­da for a Trade and De­vel­op­ment Agree­ment are be­ing fund­ed by the re­gion.

Ro­drigues-Bir­kett's state­ment came in the form of a writ­ten re­sponse to a se­ries of ques­tions by op­po­si­tion front-bencher Carl Greenidge, who was pre­vi­ous­ly a se­nior ne­go­tia­tor with Cari­com's Of­fice of Trade Ne­go­ti­a­tions (OTN).

This stance comes as con­cerns linger that the Caribbean Fo­rum coun­tries might have been com­pro­mised in their ne­go­ti­at­ing abil­i­ties since the rounds of ne­go­ti­a­tions lead­ing up to the 2008 Eco­nom­ic Part­ner­ship Agree­ment (EPA) be­tween them and the Eu­ro­pean Union (EU) were in fact fund­ed by the EU.She re­cent­ly in­formed the 65-seat Na­tion­al As­sem­bly, cur­rent ne­go­ti­a­tions be­tween Cari­com and Cana­da for a Trade and De­vel­op­ment Agree­ment are be­ing fund­ed by the re­gion.

Ro­drigues-Bir­kett's state­ment came in the form of a writ­ten re­sponse to a se­ries of ques­tions by op­po­si­tion front-bencher Carl Greenidge, who was pre­vi­ous­ly a se­nior ne­go­tia­tor with Cari­com's Of­fice of Trade Ne­go­ti­a­tions (OTN).

This stance comes as con­cerns linger that the Caribbean Fo­rum coun­tries might have been com­pro­mised in their ne­go­ti­at­ing abil­i­ties since the rounds of ne­go­ti­a­tions lead­ing up to the 2008 Eco­nom­ic Part­ner­ship Agree­ment (EPA) be­tween them and the Eu­ro­pean Union (EU) were in fact fund­ed by the EU.