BRADES, Montserrat (March 15, 2011) – Claude E S Hogan, Director of Regional Affairs & Trade and Juliana Sweeney, Customs Officer III are representing Montserrat  at a four-day workshop on regional market access in Barbados this week.

The World Trade Organization Secretariat (WTO), the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), through the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL) and the Integration and Trade Sector (INT), and the CARICOM Secretariat, through its Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), have organized a Regional Workshop on Market Access Related Issues for Caribbean Countries.

According to the workshop programme, the objective of the training is to enhance and strengthen the participants understanding of market access related issues as a comprehensive package. Tariff, Customs Valuation, Rules of Origin, Import Licensing, are all inter-related trade policy issues and the efficient implementation of the appropriate WTO Agreements are the key to the effective expansion of international trade in this economic region.

After successful completion of this workshop the participants are expected to understand how Members' tariffs are bound under the WTO system (NAMA negotiations), how the tariffs can be re-negotiated, sectorial initiative, especially with the example of tariffs of goods concerning information technology (ITA), as well as what the principles are behind the Agreement on Customs Valuation and what kind of techniques and custom systems are needed to deal with the practices of under invoicing.

The Regional Workshop is aimed at those capital-based officials whose responsibilities directly involve the ongoing negotiations and implementation of regional and/or multilateral trade agreements.

IDB/INTAL will finance the participation of the officials at the workshop which is being held in Bridgetown, Barbados, March 15-18, 2011.