BRIDGETOWN (CMC):

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) hammered out by Europe and CARIFORUM countries will be signed by regional heads "within the first three weeks of April" in Barbados, says Henry Gill, senior director of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).

Speaking to Caribbean journa-lists at a workshop for regional journalists on the EPA on Friday in Barbados, Gill said the next stage would be "to sign the agreement and the anticipation is that by the third week of April, the agreement would be signed by our ministers and EC counterparts".

Secretary general of the CRNM, Ambassador Richard Bernal, said Barbados was still committed to hosting the signing by CARIFORUM - a bloc of the Caribbean Community and the Dominican Republic.

"I met with the prime minister of Barbados and the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade. I went to pay my respects and to introduce myself personally ... and to ascertain that Barbados will host the signing ceremony," he said.

Bernal added that the prime minister indicated that as soon as the EPA text was available that an internal review would begin in Barbados and he hoped that would move ahead quickly and effectively.

Gill stressed that the agreement was not yet in force.

"When the agreement is publicly released ... the next stage is for the attorney general's office to look at it and pronounce yes or nay and the European side, for their institutions, to look at it and pronounce," he said.