CARICOM and Colombia wrap negotiations to expand South-South Cooperation

Negotiators from CARICOM and Colombia concluded the second round of discussions aimed at revising the CARICOM-Colombia Trade and Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (TECA).

CARICOM reported in a media release that talks took place in Bogotá, Colombia, on September 10, 2025, spanning two days. Key topics included expanding preferential access for agricultural and industrial goods, as well as addressing institutional matters.

Cherryl Gordon, Senior Director of Foreign Trade at Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and serving as CARICOM’s Co-Chair for the negotiations, alongside Colombia’s Manuel Chacon Pena, Director of Economic Integration at the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism, finalized the second round. The release shared that they confirmed procedures for integrating Haiti and Suriname into the agreement and discussed progress related to products of mutual interest. The two parties agreed to hold a third negotiation session in November 2025.

Gordon underscored that the negotiations aim to strengthen the trade relationship with Colombia, which is CARICOM’s third-largest trading partner in the region. She stated, “The focus is to consolidate and update the Trade Agreement to become a mechanism to support trade in high value-good support export and market diversification; promote the development of regional supply chains; and expand South-South Co-operation.”

Ambassador Wayne McCook, Assistant Secretary-General for the CARICOM Single Market and Trade, who led the CARICOM delegation, stressed the significance of modernizing the trade agreement.

“This is part of the Community’s effort to implement the CARICOM Heads of Government’s mandate to update and consolidate existing bilateral trade agreements as part of the Community’s response to the significant changes in the regional and international trade and economic environment,” he explained.

The CARICOM team, managed by the External Trade Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat based in Barbados,  reportedly included representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Additionally, representatives from Dominica, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago participated virtually, along with members from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission and the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO).

As per CARICOM reports, Colombia’s high-level team was led by Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, H.E. Luis Felipe Quintero Suarez, comprising officials from trade, commerce, foreign affairs, and agriculture sectors.