CARICOM Ministers of Foreign Affairs, with United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, Minister of State with responsibility for Caribbean, Jeremy Brown MP, and Minister of State for International Development, Rt. Hon. Alan Duncan MP.

The Caribbean leaders voiced concerns to UK representatives including the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr. William Hague MP, Minister of State with responsibility for the Caribbean Mr. Jeremy Brown, MP and UK Minister of State for International Development, Mr. Alan Duncan, MP.

Premier Smith said during discussions, the group discussed the Air Passenger Duty (APD), a tax introduced in 2009, based on the distance from London to the destination’s capital city.

According to a document by Her Majesty’s (HM) Treasury titled “Reform of Air Passenger Duty: Response to Consultation”, visitors travelling to some Caribbean countries presently pay £150, which is significantly higher when compared with those travelling to other parts of the world.

The Premier said, “The issue of the APD tax is vexing to the entire Caribbean region because of its negative impact on tourism. It also affects this Territory, as visitors from the UK travelling to the BVI are often routed through other Caribbean countries. Even more critical is the fact that the tax will be increased to £162 in April this year.” This is also in accordance with the HM Treasury’s consultation response.

Premier Smith added that the Caribbean’s stance was positively acknowledged by Minister Hague. It was agreed that dialogue would continue and take into account the importance of tourism to the economic development of the region.

According to the Premier, incidents of cross border crimes have increased in recent times and continue to greatly impact the Virgin Islands.

“As a result, we have had to heighten security and put mitigation measures in place to deter illegal activities. This phenomenon is not exclusive to the VI. As a result, Caribbean leaders stressed the importance of law enforcement agencies across the region and the UK cooperating and collaborating to combat crime including drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and other forms of financial crimes,” Premier Smith said.

Another high point of the group’s dialogue was the issue of climate change. Premier Smith said that food security in the region is threatened and as a result a greater investment in agriculture is necessary. They arranged to secure an agreement by 2015 for action on a comprehensive legally binding global framework on climate change.

In addition, the UK told Caribbean leaders to encourage their local businesses to increase trade with the UK market and to take advantage of the opportunity for business development in the UK presented by the 2012 Olympics to be held in London. The group also discussed ways to raise the quality of service offered in the region. The forum was held on January 20 – 22, under the theme, “Sustainable Growth Towards Prosperity”.