Caribbean Community (CARICOM) trade officials and representatives of national standards bureaux will participate in a Training for Trainers Workshop aimed at assisting CARICOM Member States to reap maximum rewards in the global trade arena.
The CARICOM Secretariat is collaborating with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) in staging the Workshop which will take place in Barbados 8-10 September 2004 The Workshop will focus on Standards and Technical Regulations, which can sometimes be used as artificial barriers to free trade.
The upcoming Barbados workshop for national and regional officials is the second component of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade enhancement project for CARICOM Member States.
The first component, which was completed in May 2003 by the Centre for Trade Policy and Law, Carleton University in Canada, entailed diagnostic studies to determine the status of, and recommended actions to support the implementation of CARICOM Member States' WTO Commitments. The studies also comprised detailed analysis on the Status of Implementation of several WTO Agreements by each Member State.
The Barbados Workshop is a critical element of the second component of the project. The resource persons will guide the CARICOM officials towards ensuring that their respective countries are better positioned to meet the minimum requirements of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The workshop is also aimed at assisting Member States in identifying priority areas and guiding the officers in devising national and regional strategies to meet these objectives in fulfilment of WTO obligations.
The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) seeks to ensure that standards and technical regulations do not create unnecessary trade restrictions. Its aim is to promote the harmonisation of standards and technical regulations internationally as well as conformity assessment and mutual recognition of standards in order to reduce the barriers to trade in goods among countries. However, given the vast difference in standards and technical regulations among WTO Members, the TBT provides for application of the rules depending on the level of technical competence and infrastructural development in a country.
Given the high importance CARICOM countries place on imports into the Region and exports to overseas markets, the upcoming trade Workshop is poised to strengthen CARICOM Member States to allow for the harmonisation, administration, delivery and conformity in modern standards for regional and international trade.
Resource persons for the forum will be drawn from the Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL) in association with the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
Contact:
Communications Unit
Email : carisec3@caricom.org or carisec4@caricom.org
