Important advances were made in the negotiations that are leading to the signing of the free trade agreement between the DR and English-Speaking Caribbean Community this year. In the sixth round of negotiations held in Miami, Florida over the weekend, Caricom agreed to include free zone exports in the free trade agreement. The DR agreed to give preferential treatment to the small economies of the Caribbean. Other issues that were discussed in the Miami meeting were services, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and rules of origin. Caricom chiefs of states will meet during the first week of July in Santa Lucia to discuss the treaty that is slated to be signed in Santo Domingo during a Caribbean chiefs of state summit on 20 August. The Dominican negotiations are head by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Frederick Emam-Zade.
