The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)-organized seminar on the trade-in- goods regime, including the Rules of Origin under the CARIFORUM-EU EPA, on Wednesday had as its facilitator, Specialist in the EPA Implementation Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat, Branford Isaacs.
The seminar in Georgetown targeted members of the business community, including importers and exporters, representatives of chambers of commerce and manufacturers associations, according to a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen.
The exercise forms part of the GRA’s efforts to sensitize the mercantile community on the provisions of the customs-related areas of the CARIFORUM-EU EPA.
Isaacs, who is also the Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Implemen-tation of the Economic Partnership Agreement, said he was pleased with the “strong turn-out” for the seminar, and noted that, “the thematic focus of this interactive exercise appeared to resonate with participants.”
In recent months, Isaacs has served as the facilitator of GRA seminars for customs brokers and officers of the Customs and Trade Adminis-tration, respectively.
His involvement as a facilitator in these GRA-organized seminars came at the request of the authorities here and is in keeping with the EPA Implementation Unit’s expressed commitment to provide assistance to CARIFORUM states in their efforts at implementation of the CARIFORUM-EU EPA.
Meanwhile, a recent workshop in St Kitts and Nevis organized by the EPA Implementation Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat for representatives of Government Information Services (GIS) of the CARIFORUM states has been described by participants as having “paved the way for enhanced cooperation on EPA-related messaging in the public domain, between technocrats with responsibility for the EPA in the CARICOM Secretariat and focal points in Government Information Services of the region,” the release stated.
The regional workshop on the CARIFORUM-EU EPA for Senior Officers of Government Information Services was held from March 17 to 18.
This workshop was funded under the 9th European Development Fund (EDF), Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP), and it was also made possible by UKaid from the Department for International Development, through the Caribbean Aid for Trade and Regional Integration Trust Fund (CARTFund).
Ambassador Rosalyn Hazelle, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of International Trade of the host state, said in her feature address at the opening ceremony that the workshop represented a “unique opportunity” for participants to deepen their knowledge base.
Hazelle noted also that it served as a basis for participants to explore the scope for strategic partnerships with the EPA Implementation Unit, so as to better inform the general public on an Agreement that stands to impact their “every-day lives.”
The capstone of the two-day engagement, the release said, was an examination of prospects for collaboration between the EPA Implementation Unit and GIS stakeholders, with respect to EPA-related messaging.
In this regard, the workshop laid the groundwork for collaboration between the EPA Implementation Unit and GIS stakeholders. Principles that are expected to inform sustained, proactive interface were agreed to, as well as the focal points that should operationalize partnerships.
The modalities for interface are to be worked out with GIS focal points, on a case-by-case basis, the release added.
The fifteen signatory Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific (CARIFORUM) states to the EPA are the independent CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic.
