The PM signs on the dotted line.
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer yesterday signed the Instrument of Ratification for the Revised OECS Treaty of Basseterre Establishing OECS Economic Union.
Antigua and Barbuda, like other OECS member states, signed the Revised Treaty of Basseterre on June 18th 2010 at Gros Islet in St Lucia.
“By being the first member state to ratify the Revised Treaty of Basseterre Establishing OECS Economic Union, Antigua & Barbuda wishes to signal its profound commitment to the implementation process,” PM Spencer said prior to signing the Instrument of Ratification at his office.
The House of Representatives, on 2nd December 2010, in a rare display of bipartisan consensus, passed a Resolution authorising the ratification of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre, thus paving the way for the deposit of the Instrument of Ratification from the Government of Antigua & Barbuda with the OECS Secretariat in accordance with Article 25 of the Treaty. Article 25 provides that the Treaty shall be open for signature to all countries specified in Articles 3.1 and 3.2 and shall be subject to ratification by the signatories in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.
In order for the Revised Treaty to enter into force, at least four independent OECS member states must ratify the Treaty.
Ratification is the process by which a member state formally indicates that it is willing to be bound by an international agreement and will abide by its provisions.
Antigua & Barbuda is the only OECS member state that has a Ratification of Treaties Act (Cap 364), and the Act provides in Section 3 that where a treaty to which Antigua & Barbuda becomes party affects or concerns the relationship between Antigua & Barbuda and any international organization, agency, association or similar body, such Treaty shall not enter into force unless it has been ratified or its ratification approved in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
At the 51st Meeting of the OECS Authority in St Lucia in June 2010, the OECS Heads of Government had agreed to the date of 21st January 2010 for commencement of implementation of the Revised Treaty.
Considerable technical work has gone into the implementation process, including the elaboration of the rules of procedure for the various organs of the Organization, the agreeing on the framework for the facilitation of travel, the free movement of OECS nationals, and the free circulation of goods and the facilitation of trade.
“There is a sub-committee of the Cabinet established under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance and Economy Harold Lovell to drive the OECS Economic Union implementation process,” Spencer said.
The Revised Treaty creates a single economic and financial space covering all OECS member states, and sets the stage for the deepening of the OECS integration process.
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
