(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, Chairman of the Thirty-Eighth Special Meeting of the COTED on Agriculture Honourable Matthew Walter, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Dominica, our Host Ministers of Agriculture of CARICOM Member States Other Heads of Delegations Representatives of International and Regional Organizations Agriculture Stakeholders Ladies and Gentlemen
It is truly a pleasure for me to call to order and welcome you to this the Thirty-eighth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture.
Honourable Ministers,
Over the past week, a common message coming out of this Tenth Caribbean Week of Agriculture was the need to bring to the fore, to publicise, our success stories in Agriculture. One such success story, I submit, is the work of this very Organ, the COTED (Agriculture), which has evolved, and in my view, has come of age to the point where the regional agriculture agenda is now being driven and owned by Member States.
But in our current circumstance, there is so much more to be done. However, in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that we are witnessing this week, there is no doubt that we can reposition agriculture so that our Member States can become food secure.
Before you today, Ministers, are recommendations coming from the Alliance and the Meeting of Officials that are intended to facilitate the further development of the agriculture sector. I draw to your attention those issues relating to the trade in agricultural products. We all recognize the urgent need to put in place a transparent regional SPS regime that would allow for greater trade in agricultural products. Some of our exporters are of the view that SPS is being used to protect local production from imports from other Member States.
We need to operationalize CAHFSA which will be the vehicle for putting in place the SPS regime. We have received some financial assistance for CAHFSA thus far. With funding from the European Union, we have already purchased office furniture and equipment and a vehicle for CAHFSA. There are promises of much more assistance but before we can receive it, CAHFSA must be up and running.
You also have before you a number of policy matters which have benefitted from extensive consultation. Where action plans have been prepared, they point to those actions which must be implemented nationally and regionally. We need to ensure that we give life to the identified action by implementing them.
The Secretariat is mobilizing resources to assist with the implementation of some of these actions. In the first quarter of 2012, we should gain access to substantial funding of 8.7 million Euros under the 10th EDF Intra ACP Programme for the continuation and expansion of our agricultural programme. Funds have been directed to three areas – Agriculture Policy and Strategy; Research on the already agreed priority commodities; and linking Small Farmers to Markets. This will be implemented through IICA and CARDI in partnership with the CARICOM Secretariat. Earlier this week, a workshop was held with Member States and stakeholders to identify the elements of the work programme to be implemented utilizing these funds. We must ensure that this programme delivers benefits on the ground in Member States.
Similarly, funds are being directed to the Region’s SPS programme in the amount of approximately 11.0 million Euros. This includes SPS measures in the Fisheries Sub-sector.
Technical and financial support to the agricultural programmes also continues from our very close and special partners in development – IICA and FAO. The support we are receiving will have little impact if there is no corresponding investment and commitment to implement the activities at the national level. I feel it is extremely important that this meeting be oriented towards action on the ground. I also believe that we should seek to encourage our people to become more engaged in our programmes to confront the Region’s dilemma of low food production and high prices.
I therefore invite the COTED to carefully consider the issues before it today and look optimistically to informed decisions which will add benefits to all our stakeholders.
Honourable Ministers and Heads of Delegations, in keeping with the Rules of Procedure of the COTED, it is the turn of The Bahamas to chair this Council. I therefore turn over to our Chairman, Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, to preside over our deliberations.
I thank you.
