CRNM renamed OTN, has new Director General

Nov 18, 2009 News

Following the decision taken by the Caricom Heads of Government in March 2009 to incorporate the then Caribbean Regional Negotiation Machinery (CRNM) into the Caricom Secretariat, a specialised department has now been formed.

OTN Director General, Gail Mathurin

To this end, the disbanding of the CRNM unit has now made way for the Office of Trade Negotiation (OTN) headed by Jamaican Gail Mathurin as the Director General of that Barbados-based office.
The unit, through the Secretary General, will report to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and the Caricom Heads of Government. Further, all negotiating mandate will be decided by these two organs, so that there is proper oversight of the unit.
The decision to rename the CRNM to the OTN was to make the function of the latter clearer, since many opined that the CRNM negotiated everything for Caricom when it only dealt with trade related matters.
The OTN unlike the CRNM has the sole responsibility to negotiate all trade agreements and arrangements with countries outside of Caricom. Prior, the Caricom Secretariat, Office of Trade and Negotiation, had the responsibilities of dealing with selected trade related issues.
It was at a meeting here in Guyana that the Heads of Government agreed on the appointment of Mathurin, who has now taken over from Henry Gill who has demitted office.
According to Caricom Secretary General, Edwin Carrington, the OTN has retained most of the CRNM technical staff. He dispelled concerns of a paucity of qualified persons within the OTN. Carrington informed that while recruitment of staff for the newly formed unit is ongoing, the substance of the staff retained should not be questioned.
Further, the Secretary General said that Mathurin as a qualified trade negotiator will serve the new unit well and advance the causes of the Caribbean region.
Prior to her current appointment, Mathurin served as the Permanent Secretary and Head of Foreign Services in Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she was also Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and served as the coordinator for the ACP in the world trade organisation Doha trade negotiations, among some of the many positions she has held.
Speaking to the media via teleconferencing from her office in Barbados, Mathurin indicated that she has already started trade negotiations on behalf of the region. She said that Canada has been approached and the OTN is looking to ink a development oriented agreement that is sensitive to the needs of the Caribbean region.
Mathurin said that just last week she along with other Caricom officials met with Canadian officials in Barbados where promising discussions were held. Market access as it relates to agriculture and industrial goods, services, culture and investments were some of the issues discussed in the meeting, Mathurin said. She said that the forum gave a clear indication of the amount of work still to be done between the two countries.
Mathurin noted that the message that was garnered from the meeting was that Canada recognises the need for symmetry as it deals with two parties that are at different levels of development. She said that Canada has indicated that it will recognise the different levels of development between the two countries and work with the region with that in mind. Touching on another issue, Mathurin said that she is disappointed that the African Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) Countries’ Doha Ministerial agenda has not moved much faster, given the fact that there are issues of importance to Caricom on that agenda.
She stated that the office will also be continuing the work that the CRNM started, with respect to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Before the renaming of the CRNM to the OTN, it was first headed by Guyana’s Sir Shridath Ramphal, then Richard Bernal, before Mathurin’s predecessor Henry Gill took over.