GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) yesterday thanked Canada for its action in securing a World Trade Organisation (WTO) waiver for the extension of a free trade agreement Ottawa has with the Caribbean.

CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington said he hoped the waiver on the Canada-CARICOM Trade Agreement (CARIBCAN) beyond 2006, would provide benefits to the region.

"We of the Caribbean Community will obviously support this initiative, geared as it is to ensuring the continuation of the preferential market access we enjoy in the Canadian market. We hope that all CARICOM member states will be eligible to benefit from such an extension," Carrington said at a ceremony where he received the credentials of Canada's Plenipotentiary Representative to CARICOM, Charles Court.