Haiti is expected to be compliant with the provisions of the CARICOM Single Market in respect of trade in goods come 2010. The country is now close to completion of a process of revising and developing legislative frameworks to facilitate this process.

The level of preparation in Haiti, which for the first time assumes the Chairmanship of the Community on July 1, 2010, has been very intense. The Community, with the assistance of the Canadian Agency for International Development (CIDA) reopened a CARICOM Representation Office in Port-au-Prince in 2007 to assist this process.

As part of this development programme, the CARICOM Secretariat has been helping to build capacity through training in several aspects of Haiti’s public sector to strengthen the country’s ability to participate fully in the Single Market and the regional integration movement generally.

-- South Florida Caribbean News, www.sflcn.com