(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana - Monday, 31 March 2025) - Director of CARICOM Single Market at the CARICOM Secretariat, Mr. Leo Preville says sustained capacity building is key for implementation of the CSME. Mr. Preville was speaking at a planning meeting ahead of the final segment of the CARICOM Skilled Workers Programme (SWP) which begins this week in Belize. “Sustained implementation of the CSME will depend on the availability of senior technical officers, equipped not only with the requisite knowledge of the CSME, but also an understanding of the nuanced differences in processes in Member States and the development of networks among colleagues to support the integration process”.
CARICOM border control officers from Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are scheduled to begin a one-week attachment in Belize from 31 March – 4 April 2025. This activity will provide opportunities to learn best-practices in the administration of the CSME regimes and develop practical skills to assist Member States in implementing the CSME and decisions of the Organs and Bodies of the Caribbean Community. This activity marks the final phase of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Skilled Workers Programme.
The programme, which is aimed at building advocates for CARICOM integration through the exposure given to the participants, is supported under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF): Strengthening Framework for CARICOM Integration and Cooperation Process (SFCICP). The programme funds three border control officers from each CARICOM Member State participating in the CSME.
While in Belize, the CARICOM border control officers will be exposed to the operations at the land border, air and seaports. They will observe passport control, customs inspection, agricultural checks and the collaboration among various agencies such as the Border Management Authority; Customs and Excise; Immigration and the Belize Agricultural Health Authority. They will also monitor cargo inspection, passenger processing, the use of technology and risk management strategies.
There are two other segments of the Border Control Officers Attachment Programme: Guyana will host participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 7 to 11 April 2025. Participants from Belize, Dominica, Haiti and Jamaica will then have an opportunity to visit another CARICOM Member State.
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