St. George’s, April 15, 2009 -- Ms. Allyson Francis has been appointed as the Trade Counsel to the Government of Grenada, a position within the Trade and Export Development Division of the Ministry of Finance, Planning, Economy, Foreign Trade, Energy and Cooperatives. Her responsibilities include: * Providing support to Government’s negotiations within bilateral, regional and international fora; * Collaborating with the Director of Trade on all matters relating to Grenada’s trade policy and trade-related issues; * Coordinating on critical trade policy issues with the OECS, CARICOM, ACP and other developing country groupings; * Advising on a coordinated approach to Government’s national trade policy interests across the several arenas of negotiations such as CSME, FTAA, WTO, EU – ACP, CARICOM; and * Serving as Chairperson and managing the Secretariat of the National Trade Policy Coordinating Committee (NTPCC) in order to facilitate the efficient exchange of information for policy setting and consensus building between meetings of the NTPCC. Ms. Francis brings extensive experience to the position having last served as the Legal/Trade Specialist at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus where she lectured on International Trade Law with special focus on the WTO, Regional Trade Agreements Negotiations. In addition Ms. Francis was also the Lead Consultant with the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill, Barbados, where she completed a Review and Evaluation of the CARIFORUM – EU Economic Partnership Agreement: Implications for Barbados. Ms. Francis is no stranger to the Government of Grenada having worked as Trade Counsel from 2000 – 2004. During that stint, she advised Government on legal matters pertaining to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Ministry takes this opportunity to welcome back Ms. Francis.