Bernal, chief trade negotiator for Caricom.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (CMC):

Caribbean prime ministers meeting here for their mid-term summit have given regional trade negotiators an adjusted mandate designed to break the deadlock in trade talks with the European Union (EU).

Neither Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller nor head of the Caribbean Regional Negotiation Machinery (CRNM), Dr. Richard Bernal, would comment on the details of the mandate but they told reporters it was intended to give momentum to the talks aimed at fashioning a new economic partnership agreement with the EU.

Bernal said it allows his team some flexiblity to tackle divisive issues. Caricom was committed to concluding the talks according to the schedule agreed among the negotiating parties, he said, and in advance of the January 2008 deadline regardless of how taxing the negotiation process became.

The trade ambassador also told reporters that no decision was taken on whether to pursue a new free-trade arrangement with the United States, but bilateral agreements with the U.S., Canada, Cuba and the Dominican Republic remained on the regional agenda.

Simpson Miller, Prime Minister with lead responsibility for external trade negotiations, said Caricom heads mandated the team to ensure that the welfare of Caribbean nationals remained at the centre of their talks in the various trade discussions, whether bilaterally or multilaterally at the World Trade Organisation.