The free trade agreement signed with the Caribbean will not go into effect until the second week of September, according to the president of the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce in the DR, Fernando Gonzalez Nicolas. He said that Jamaica and Barbados have postponed the dates for ratifying the agreement. Administrative rather than political reasons are cited. Jamaica promised to ratify the agreement on 10 August and Barbados on 29 August. Gonzalez spoke to the press during a luncheon organized by the Chamber of Commerce. At the luncheon, Miguel Ceara Hatton, director of commerce for the Association of Caribbean States, gave a talk on the Caribbean Community (Caricom) agreement.
