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Tradewatch
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The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014
EXPORT DEVELOPMENT
The specialty food industry has become recognised as having major growth
and export revenue-generating potential. The unique offerings made possible
by use of the natural resources of the Caribbean’s tropical climate appeal to
the palates of consumers in niche markets both regionally and extra-regionally.
Many products produced in the Caribbean have mass market appeal and enjoy
relative success on the global market. However, the majority of agro-processing
products have been limited in their export capability and reach by various factors
such as packaging, marketing and food safety requirements. Caribbean Export
recognized these challenges, and, as part of its 10th EDF RPSDP, has endeavoured
to address them. As a manifestation of this mandate, the Agency launched three
key initiatives during its Food Safety Preparedness Meeting on May 28, 2014 at
the Hilton Barbados Resort.
The meeting’s agenda encompassed the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on
Agriculture (IICA) and the CARICOM Regional Organisation of Standards and
Quality (CROSQ), the opening of a Special Call for Proposals – Food Safety for
CARIFORUM agro-processing firms to receive financial assistance, and the launch
of the Agency’s newly developed online Food Safety Portal.
Caribbean Export’s Executive Director, Pamela Coke-Hamilton opened the
morning’s proceedings with an informative address on the history and context
of the Food Safety Preparedness Programme. She also highlighted the intention
of the MoU stating that it “sets the platform for cooperation to take place with
the aim of ensuring that fresh foods and agro-processed products are produced
under standard quality control conditions within the CARIFORUM States so that
they meet the sanitary and technical regulatory requirements of the international
marketplace.”
Food Safety Preparedness Meeting and
MOU Signing
The development of the Food Safety Preparedness Programme
has been on-going since January 2010, when Caribbean Export
received USD$1 million from the Caribbean Aid for Trade and
Regional Integration Trust Fund (CARTFund), funded by the UK
Department for International Development (DFID), to finance a
2-year project aimedat strengthening the Specialty FoodSector and
increasing the export of specialty food products from CARIFORUM
countries. The first phase of the project was a study to determine
the priority actions needed to address the major constraints to
expanding the sector, which resulted in the development of a
Regional Specialty Food Sector Strategy and Action Plan.
The MoU among the three regional agencies is intended to
establish a formal framework for collaboration on matters relating
to global food safety export requirements. More specifically,
the agreement aims to facilitate the sharing of information on
the respective work programmes of the parties to determine
strategic areas of cooperation; while operating in good faith on
the dissemination of information pertaining to food safety to
stakeholders in the CARIFORUM States. It is hoped that ultimately
this collaboration will benefit the wider agro-business community
fresh food exporters in particular.
The second launch was for the Special Call for Proposals -
Food Safety which was conceptualised to provide funding for
CARIFORUM agro-processing firms, which are aiming to meet food
safety requirements for global export, in particular those of the
EU market. The programme provides reimbursable grants of up to
10,000 euros which should represent a maximum of 70% of the
total project cost of the firm’s intended food safety preparedness
project.
The final launch was the Food Safety Portal, the development
of which was made possible by funding from the Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) under the CARTFund Programme
with financing from DFID. The portal is intended to act as a
comprehensive database of information and support tools to
enable the regional Specialty Food sector to prepare their products
for the rigorous food safety requirements for export to the EU and
United States (US).The portal provides the proactive entrepreneur
with the tools to benchmark his or her firm and its readiness
for export and consequently develop a preparedness plan. The
regional Agro-processing sector in general will also benefit as
the site provides simple and concrete steps for satisfying food
safety requirement for export which could be utilized by industrial
support organizations.
(TW)
Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director, Caribbean Export; Mr Russell
Franklyn, Officer in Charge, CROSQ; Mr Gregg C. E. Rawlins Representative in
Trinidad and Tobago and Coordinator, Regional Integration, Caribbean Region,
IICA; Dr Beverley Wood, Project Coordinator, National Agriculture Health and
Food Control Programme, Ministry of Agriculture looks on.
CEC enables entrepreneurs and established businesses to set up physical operations in Cayman without exorbitant outsourcing
costs, due to Cayman’s tax-neutral status and government-granted special zone concessions. To date, the model has attracted
150 firms set up generating foreign direct investment and the accompanying multiplier effect on the local economy has
resulted in an estimated CI$15 million impact on the local economy.
(TW)
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