BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

As African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) parliamentarians began talks here yesterday with their European Union (EU) colleagues, the Caribbean's lead spokesperson on trade says the region will not be rushed into any new trade pact.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States is an organisation created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. It consists of 79 member states, all of them, save Cuba, signatories to the Cotonou Agreement which binds them to the European Union. There are 48 countries from sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who has lead prime ministerial responsibility for external trade negotiations in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the region prefers to spend time negotiating a fair deal rather than rushing into a new pact.

"It is best that we discuss and get the kind of agreement that would be suited to our region rather than rushing into just an agreement because a quick agreement doesn't symbolise that it could be a good agreement.

"I would much prefer that the dialogue takes place and that we get a good agreement and we are working on it," Simpson Miller told the Caribbean Media Corporation, adding that the Caribbean has to ensure that the interest of its citizens are protected.

Recently, Amos Tincani, EU Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said the region needs to move swiftly to conclude the new arrangement with Europe as the January 2008 deadline approaches.