Special forum on agriculture at upcoming Caribbean American Expo & Conference in Orlando

ORLANDO – A special forum on the promotion of agriculture in the Caribbean and the opportunities for trade in primary and processed agricultural products will form part of the Fourth Annual Caribbean American Business Expo & Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida, June 10-12, 2009.

The forum will be put on by the Trinidad and Tobago headquartered Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and will feature a presentation by Dr. Arlington Chesney, the Institute’s executive director. The Expo and Conference, put on by Florida’s Caribbean Sun newspaper is part of the activities planned in observance of Caribbean Heritage Month in the United States.

CARDI will also have a booth at the expo with displays and information material on agriculture research in the region and about primary and processed agricultural products available for export to the United States.

“CARDI will use the opportunity to highlight developments in the promotion of agriculture in the Caribbean, identify key research requirements, discuss the role of the Diaspora and seek to establish relationships with key institutions in the United States,” says Dr. Chesney.

The Diaspora represents a significant market for products from the Caribbean and we will seek to gain a better insight of this market in terms of the opportunities for expanding the range of products which are currently being exported to the United States, Dr. Chesney explained.

Executive Chairman of the Expo & Conference, Wesley Kirton pointed out that the special forum on agriculture has been organized “to address several issues which affect the trade in primary and processed agricultural products and to find ways to overcome some of these challenges.” He disclosed that officials representing US Customs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Agriculture will also participate in the forum.

“We have had instances where products imported from the Caribbean and which were cleared by US Customs and the USDA were later deemed to be in violation of Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and ordered remove from the shelves of retail outlets. This cost the importers and the retailers’ significant losses in revenue in addition to the possibility of fines.

“As we seek to promote trade we cannot look only at broad trade policy but we need to examine some of the ‘nitty gritty’ hands-on issues that affect trade and it is against this background that we have arranged these sessions. The US Customs Service will be represented by its Deputy Port Director Mr. Russ Morgan and the other agencies will also be represented by senior officials. These agencies will also have on hand up to date information to share with conference participants,” Kirton said.

Kirton added that there were certain varieties of agricultural produce the importation of which was restricted and he expressed the hope that CARDI would discuss these with USDA officials. “We hope CARDI’s ongoing research would bring out information which would eventually lead to these products becoming available for import into the US,” he said.

Issues regarding labeling and nutrition information requirements will also form part of the discussions.

For further information on the conference, visit
www.caribamericanexpo.com