June 28, 2016: The two-day CARIFORUM Level 2 Advanced Customs and Trade Facilitation Training Workshop in Support of the Implementation of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement commenced at the Kapok Hotel.
Ms. Karlene Roach, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Ag.), Ministry of Trade and Industry welcomed the participants and in her Remarks made reference to a recently held workshop on trade facilitation; she said ‘in May 2016, the Level 1 Training Workshop on the Customs and Trade Facilitation was conducted.
This introductory session helped lay the foundation for knowledge built upon the pillars of transparency, simplification, harmonization and standardization. The session highlighted the benefits of trade facilitation efforts in Trinidad and Tobago and the importance of trade facilitation measures in the EPA’.
She encouraged all participants to ‘take full advantage of this advanced training and apply what is learnt in order to expedite the building of the necessary capacity to successfully and efficiently implement the EPA’. The CARIFORUM-EU EPA was signed in 2008 and has been provisionally applied, as CARIFORUM Member States adjust to the requirements of the EPA. The EPA presents a wealth of opportunities to CARIFORUM Member States for trade and development.
This training program was designed specifically to enhance the ability of customs officers and other agencies to implement the CARIFORUM-EU EPA. A Training Needs Assessment (TNA) carried out in the area of Customs Trade Facilitation within the CARIFORUM countries served as basis for this training program, which focuses on the areas of customs valuation, customs tariff classification, post clearance audits, risk management, customs management, coordinated border management, and strategic trade control enforcement. It is anticipated that this training will facilitate enhanced professionalism and harmonization of Customs procedures within the CARIFORUM Region. The course was attended by 15 participants from Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname.
The training course is an output of the CARIFORUM-EU Capacity Building Project, funded under the 10th EDF. The project’s overall objective is to support CARIFORUM Member States’ beneficial integration in the world economy.
Specifically, it seeks to help Member States to implement their EPA commitments in the areas of Competition, Procurement and Customs and Trade Facilitation. A consortium led by Equinoccio (Spain) which includes the London School of Economics (UK), SGS (Netherlands) and Maastricht School of Management (Netherlands) is implementing the project.
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For more information please contact:
Ministry of Trade and Industry
Levels 9, 11,12, 14-17 Nicholas Tower
Tel: 8686232931