Caribbean and EU representatives met in Santo Domingo on 19 June to review the implementation of their Economic Partnership Agreement for the first time in a dedicated political session since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fifth meeting of the Joint CARIFORUM–EU Council was chaired by Dominican Republic minister Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, while the EU delegation was led by trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič alongside Cyprus state secretary Theodora Constantinidou, the Council of the EU informed.
The joint council is the highest joint body under the CARIFORUM–EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), a trade and cooperation deal between the EU and Caribbean states grouped in CARIFORUM, and it is responsible for supervising how the agreement is put into practice.
Delegations discussed the effects of hurricane Melissa, which “devastated” parts of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti in October 2025 and also affected The Bahamas and other Caribbean states.
The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to fully implement the EPA and urged any states that have not yet ratified the agreement to take “urgent action” to do so.
They also noted that the EU continues to provide duty-free, quota-free access for goods originating from CARIFORUM states, while some Caribbean states are fully meeting their tariff liberalisation obligations, the statement said.
However, it said there are “implementation deficits”, including non-compliance with tariff liberalisation obligations by some CARIFORUM states, and the EU side urged those states to implement their commitments “without delay”.
Services, visas and a deal on product names
The council welcomed the establishment and first meeting of a Special Committee on Services, set up to examine barriers to trade in services — such as professional and business services — between the two sides, a joint communiqué said.
CARIFORUM states raised concerns that visa requirements in EU member states can prevent some Caribbean services suppliers from taking advantage of opportunities in the EU market.
The meeting also took stock of talks on a separate CARIFORUM–EU agreement to protect geographical indications — legally protected product names linked to specific places — and called for the negotiations to be concluded before the next meeting of the Trade and Development Committee in 2027.
On Haiti, the council expressed support for “a durable solution” to the drivers of instability and crises in the country and said it hoped Haiti would be able to start applying and implementing the EPA when it is in a position to do so.
The two sides agreed the next Joint Council meeting should be held in Brussels in 2028.
