Premier Jennifer Smith signed an environmental charter at the end of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in London last Wednesday.

The meeting also discussed closer links with the UK on tertiary education, the cost of overseas higher education fees, immigration and nationality, and financial issues such as the KPMG report on financial standards, according to a Government news release yesterday.

The charter, which was also signed by Foreign Office Overseas Territories Minister Baroness Amos, is a statement of general environmental principles.

Ms Smith said the meeting was a good opportunity to place questions directly to British ministers.

"I cannot emphasise too strongly the importance of this and I am pleased to say that this meeting will be of great benefit to Bermuda in the future," the release quoted her as saying.

"It is clear that the Consultative Council meeting was made even more important because of the impact of the events of September 11 on the various overseas territories.

"I am pleased that the British government expressed concern and understanding about the extent to which these events affected many of our economies. There were fruitful discussions on what assistance the UK may be able to provide to reduce the impact on the people of the various territories."

Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans, Cabinet Secretary John Drinkwater, and Chief of Staff Senator Lt. Col. David Burch accompanied the Premier to the meeting.

Leaders from Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands and St. Helena, attended the session.

Comprehensive notes of the meeting, dealing with agreed action points and timelines, will be circulated, according to the release.