06 May 2008 - Rickey Singh

For all the current and earlier controversies it has attracted over the 11 years of its existence, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) has clearly earned its reputation as a very valuable mechanism in this region's engagement with the international community.

As passionate debates continue over the pluses and minuses of the concluded Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Forum (Caricom and Dominican Republic), there has come the announcement by Dr Richard Bernal of his resignation as director general to work with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as an alternative director for the Caribbean.

Bernal, a Jamaican, has been serving the CRNM, which has lead responsibility for trade negotiations, for almost six and half years as director general.

He had assumed that post following the departure of Sir Shridath Ramphal, whose immense reputation as a key regional player in the inauguration of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, had enabled him to give visionary leadership to the CRNM during its first four years.

With Sir Alister McIntyre joining Ramphal as chief technical adviser to build a solid foundation for the CRNM, Jamaica's former prime minister, PJ Patterson, long-term chairman of Caricom's prime ministerial sub-committee on external economic  negotiations was to place on record in 2001 that:

"There is no gainsaying that the RNM has served us well and is now regarded as a model for developing countries engaged in other arenas of external economic negotiations...''

Ramphal had steered the CRNM into wider Caribbean waters, beyond the shores of Caricom, to successfully include the Dominican Republic and Cuba in what today constitutes Cariforum for structured international negotiations.

Bernal's leadership as director general will best be remembered for the intense, complex and very challenging negotiations over some four years to conclude a full Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU.

Bernal has his admirers and stout defenders - including most of the Community's Heads of Government - but also a quota of EPA detractors, among them leading regional economists and scholars whose perspectives differ from his on likely negative impact of the accord on Caricom's quest for creation of a seamless regional economy.

Never one to run way from an intellectual challenge, Bernal would only say,when questioned why he chose to resign now from the CRNM, that: "I think it is time to move on... ''

Was he frustrated, as being unofficially suggested,by differences with the Caricom Secretariat, with which the CRNM collaborates in fulfilling its mandated functions and reporting, as required, to the Prime Ministerial Subcommittee on External Economic Negotiations and COTED (Council for Trade and Economic Development)?

His reply: "I prefer not to get involved in details at this time...but I have introduced a succession plan involving very able and experienced colleagues and given the quality of support they deserve, I look forward to the CRNM continuing to serve the best interest of the Caribbean region...''

Bernal officially let it be known that current senior director, Henry Gill, is his choice to succeed him as director general. Currently acting in the post, while Bernal is on leave, Gill is viewed as part of the institutional memory of the CRNM. He has served, variously, under Ramphal as chief negotiator; McIntyre as chief technical adviser and Bernal as current director general.

A national of Trinidad and Tobago, Gill is well recognised for his acquired expertise in international relations, working with regional, hemispheric and international agencies and institutions over the years that covered foreign policy, international trade and regional integration

A former deputy permanent secretary of the Caracas-based Latin American Economic System (SELA), Gill worked as an independent consultant for some years with United Nations agencies, European Commission, Organisation of American States, Caricom and the Association of Caribbean States before joining the CRNM in 1999.

A smooth transition is, therefore, expected when Bernal demits office by June 30 to join the IDB. Before his appointment as CRNM director general, he had played a leading role in numerous negotiations on behalf of Jamaica and Caricom, including agreements on investment, intellectual property rights, trade agreements and debt reduction agreements with the international financial institutions.

Attention will soon be focused on the future role of the CRNM, as preliminary arrangements get underway for the coming negotiations for a long overdue new partnership accord between Caricom and Canada.   Â

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