April 2012: The 14th issue of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean’s (RAC/REMPEITC) quarterly newsletter, titled “Caribe,” highlights three workshops held in the region to help countries meet their obligations under the 1990 International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response, and Cooperation (OPRC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The first workshop, funded by IMO and the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), was hosted by RAC/REMPEITC from 31 January – 2 February 2012, in Willemstad, Curacao. It brought together participants from Cuba, Curacao, Jamaica and Mexico, who reviewed and discussed regional needs related to oversight of offshore oil and gas exploration and development. The workshop also sought to aid the development of national plans for marine pollution preparedness and response and to lay the groundwork for future assistance and cooperation in the wider Caribbean.

Another workshop, funded by the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Regional Risk Reduction Initiative (R3i) and organized with the assistance of Aruba’s Crisis Management Office, took place from 13-14 February 2012, in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, to help St. Maarten update its oil spill contingency plan. A similar workshop, also funded by R3i, and organized with help from Aruba’s Crisis Management Office, was held in Anguilla from 15-17 February 2012, to help Anguilla update its Oil Spill Contingency Plan.

RAC/REMPEITC was created in 1995 by IMO and UNEP’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Center (CAR/RCU) to assist countries of the Wider Caribbean in developing their national capabilities to implement the Cartagena Convention Oil Spill Protocol, the OPRC and other IMO Conventions and Protocols relevant to preparedness for and response to oil, hazardous and noxious substances releases, and other marine environmental threats from ships in the Wider Caribbean Region.

The Center serves Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, as well as British, Dutch, French and the US territories in the Caribbean. [Publication: Caribe, No. 14]