A team from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission in
St. Lucia spent Tuesday in St. John’s meeting with stakeholders to examine several
critical issues related to deepening the sub-regional integration movement.
One consultation was held with officials of the Ministry of Trade led by the
Minister, E.P Chet Greene, Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Clarence Pilgrim,
and Director of the Prices and Consumers Affairs Division, Orrin Steele, among
others.
Ambassador Pilgrim said the team wanted to get an update from officials of the
ministry on Antigua and Barbuda’s progress in implementing a new Consumer’s
Protection Act and what assistance the Commission could offer to speed up the
passage of the legislation.
Minister Greene assured the team that the issue of consumer protection is at the
forefront of the government’s legislative agenda and that the matter is currently at
the Ministry of Legal Affairs to be introduced to parliament shortly.
A new business plan for the ministry for 2024 was highlighted with an agenda that
includes several pieces of legislation that will benefit consumers significantly.
These include updating the Prices Control Act as well as the Rent Control Act. The
ministry is also establishing a portal by which consumers may be able to lodge
complaints against respective businesses electronically. The data base will also
provide information on the number of complaints lodged against a particular
business.
According to the ministry officials this data base will also feature information on
the suggested prices of specific items that consumers will be able to compare in
real-time with what the item is being sold for in the supermarkets. The system is
expected to be rolled out by the ministry sometime in the new year.
The OECS team met with other stakeholders in the country including media
representatives. There, the focus was on engaging journalists on some of the
achievements of the OECS, including the fact that the creation of a single
economic space in the 2010 Revised Treaty of Basseterre paved the way for the
hassle-free movement of people and capital within the grouping.
Changes are coming to the arrangement allowing not only OECS citizens to live
and work in the economic union but it also allows for their families, even if they
are citizens of non-OECS countries, to be able to travel and live with their spouses
as well.
The Commission is now working on a common border control system for the sub-
region, an electronic immigration card system as well as Social Security portability
within the grouping.
