Between the 13 and 17 March, the National Commission on Commercial Negotiations (CNNC) will hold open consultations with any and all those interested in the proposed commercial pact between the nations of the Caribbean and the European Community. The Cariforum nations of the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic will hold a second round of talks in Barbados next month. The first round of talks has just concluded in Brussels, Belgium. Julio Ortega Tous said that the Cariforum policy was to hold these open consultations so that anyone wanting to do business with the European Community would have a chance to present their position. Ortega said that this was something that did not happen in the lead-up to the DR-CAFTA agreement. According to Ortega Tous, the question of regional integration is the next challenge facing the Dominican Republic.