WASHINGTON, DC – Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali says the United States and CARICOM have agreed to establish a single food certification regime to facilitate the free trade of agricultural produce between them.
US Vice President Kamala Harris (third from right) with CARICOM and Dominica Republic leaders following their talks on Thursday. (Photo via Twitter)“We have agreed that we’re going to have a common agenda, in which we will support a common certification program, sanitary and vital sanitary program to ensure that we are all operating on the same playing field, and that all the barriers are removed,” Ali in a statement late Thursday following talks between a CARICOM delegation and US Vice President, Kamala Harris.
The meeting was also attended by the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and other members of the US-CARICOM-Dominican Republic sub-committee on food security and agriculture.
Harris said Washington would “promote good agricultural practices and do what we can to enhance those practices in the Caribbean” and “we will remove non-tariff barriers to facilitate movement of the food in the region.”
Harris also alluded to efforts being made to address the transportation woes but she did not provide details.
“We will contribute to addressing the logistical barriers to transportation and, as we know, that is a very important detail when we are talking about combatting food insecurity anywhere and in particular in the Caribbean,” she said.
The US Vice President said already Washington has provided US$28 million to the Caribbean to address food security and was now set to introduce climate smart technology into the food protection system and provide training in areas such as pest management which “must be addressed”.
The President of Guyana said he asked the US for another US$25 million through grants and low-interest loans for women and youth in agriculture especially for projects on sustainability, technology and research.
“These are projects that will ensure resilience in the food production system (and) encourage young people and women to participate,” he said.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is co-chairing the CARICOM-US committee on energy security; Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley on access to financing and the President of Guyana on food security.
Guyana chairs the US-CARICOM-Dominican Republic sub-committee on food security and agriculture and in the statement, Ali said that over the past week, there have been 10 meetings of the sub-committee, which is co-chaired by Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Robert Persaud.
He said that the meeting also discussed a proposal for a joint approach to ensure regional sustainability in the energy sector, which includes natural gas, fossil fuels, and renewables.
“As you are aware, Barbados, Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are key players in the energy sector. I proposed at the meeting that the US engage these countries in an effort to build a sustainable development strategy for energy security—not only for the region, but for the US and for the oil field,” he stated.
The United States government will also be helping the Caribbean region in advancing its agenda for energy security along with assistance in securing more finance for various projects.
CARICOM will also benefit from improved access to finance from the United States, a release from the White House stated. It said Washington will continue to work to expand access to US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) financing for private sector-led projects in the Caribbean.
The US Treasury Department will intensify its engagement with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) this year to expand access to development finance for Caribbean countries.
The US Treasury Department is also expected to explore US membership in the Caribbean Development Bank. This includes consultations with the U.S. Congress and discussions with the Office of Management and Budget and consistent with U.S. standards for membership in multilateral development banks.
“The U.S. government will elevate engagement with Caribbean nations to improve access to correspondent banking, including by convening a correspondent banking working group in 2022, re-establishing the U.S.-Caribbean Public-Private Bank Dialogue in late 2022/early 2023, and helping Caribbean nations establish a single bank to consolidate cross-border flows across the region,” the release said.
