(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The First Meeting of Caribbean Plant Health officials which ended in Georgetown Friday has stressed that in this era of rising food prices across the globe, there was need for action to ensure that potential barriers to trade in plant and plant products were dealt with as a matter of priority.
To this end, the officials have identified a number of pests and diseases that were either destroying plants or were on the verge of causing severe economic impact, as well as the need to take swift action to enact Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary SPS) provisions under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as concerns that required immediate action as these could cause barriers to the trade in plant and plant products.
Recognising the importance of diminishing the threat of plant pests to trade, the Plant Health officials have agreed to establish a number of Working Groups to determine and map a course of action to address specific pests. They also agreed to set up a mega Working Group to deal with the pests that affect palms including coconuts. The Palm Pest Working Group will be coordinated by Trinidad and Tobago which has done research on a range of pests that affect palms.
The three-day meeting at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, was informed that coconut trees in a majority of CARICOM Member States were bearing the brunt of the infestation of Red Palm Mite and Lethal Yellowing. The Plant Health officials concluded that coconuts were an important part of the economic life of the Caribbean as many countries had established industries based on the consumption of coconut water by nationals and tourists. They added that if the onset of these and other pests that affect palms were not dealt with on a continuous basis, the effect could be devastating.
Ms Margaret Kalloo, Deputy Programme Manager for Agriculture at the CARICOM Secretariat, commended the Plant Health officials for the decision to establish a Working Group on palms as the majority of palms imported into the Caribbean were used as ornamentals. These imported palms posed a risk of pest introduction via the tourism sector which could impact on the coconut industry.
Other Working Groups are those to address the following pests: Fruit Flies, Red Palm Mite and Giant African Snails. The Working Groups include Member States and organizations including CARDI. CARDI will chair a Working Group on Invasive Species in the Caribbean.
The Plant Health officials stressed that the identification of the harmful pests and the decision to establish Working Groups would facilitate a cohesive programme of action to deal with those pests in a comprehensive manner.
The officials noted that the private sector had an important role to play as States sought to enact SPS provisions, particularly given that the private sector was the recognised engine of economic growth. The Plant Health officials noted that the SPS provisions in the EPA were consistent with the WTO provisions to which Caribbean countries had already agreed. It was noted that overall, the implementation of the SPS provisions and work to curb the threat of plant pests would ensure that Caribbean countries took advantage of the opportunities for trade.
