Government officials have refrained from comment for the last two days on the fate of an application by Guyana for a waiver of the Common External Tariff (CET) on cement amid reports that there was resistance to this from Barbados and Trinidad at a key meeting in Bridgetown last week.

The disallowing of the application or delay in its consideration can have repercussions for Guyana as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had ordered it to reinstate the CET within 28 days from August 20 when it passed judgment on a case brought against Georgetown by Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) and its Guyana subsidiary TGI. That period has now passed and TCL and TGI have since approached the CCJ for Guyana to be held in contempt of the court ruling.

Guyana’s application for the waiver was to be piloted at the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting in Barbados on Thursday by Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.