Food quality and safety consultants from the region benefited from the recent staging of a workshop on market access requirements to the European Union (EU), which was organised by the Export Development Department of JAMPRO on behalf of the Centre for the Development of Enterprises (CDE).

The workshop, which was held from May 2 to 4 at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel, updated the participants on the various new food safety/quality standards and versions, which will better equip them to support regional farmers and agro-producers in meeting requisite standards for accessing EU market through the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Among the agenda items discussed were mandatory standards across various agricultural products such as fisheries, ago-processing, fruits and vegetables, honey, cocoa and coffee.

The workshop also explored a wide range of voluntary standards, which are increasingly being demanded by consumers in these markets and can negatively impact the competitiveness of regional agro-producers if they are not adopted. Participants at the three-day event were also exposed to hands-on, practical demonstrations of the standards in the field.

Sancia Bennett Templer, President of JAMPRO, indicated that the staging of the workshop was timely, given the challenges facing the region in attaining the requisite standards to penetrate important export markets.

“As we strive to maintain our competitiveness in the export sector, it is critical that we ensure that we are up-to-date and compliant with the stringent sanitary and phytosanitary regulations of the major markets that we are seeking to enter, such as the European Union,” stated Bennett Templer.

Dr. Andre Gordon of Technological Solutions Limited, who shared presenting duties at the workshop with UK-based food industry expert Jane Milton, noted that the workshop was very useful for all the participants.

“The information shared was new and we were able to clarify misconceptions and issues that experts in the region have been dealing with. All the participants were updated on the Global Food Safety Initiative standards, which have become the basic requirement for the export of food globally. We have also established an online network for regional food safety professionals to share ideas and information related to standards,” said Dr. Gordon.

The CDE, which is an African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and EU joint institution, funded the participation of 37 representatives from CARIFORUM member countries Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Suriname, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Grenada and Jamaica. Created within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement between ACP member countries and the EU, the CDE provides non-financial services to ACP companies and joint initiatives of the ACP and EU economic operators in various sectors, with the main aim of enhancing the competitiveness of ACP enterprises.