Following His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at the launch of the Canada-Guyana Chamber of Commerce to compile a list of all the hurdles Guyana’s exports face in each CARICOM market, the Ministry has since formed a National Working Group on Barriers to Trade against Exports from Guyana. The core membership of the Group comprises of Government Ministries, agencies, and the private sector.
The roles and responsibilities of the National Working Group will include but are not be limited to:
- Identifying barriers to trade through a consultative process.
- Deciding on dispute resolution approach to follow for barriers to trade matters.
- Providing direction of pointed areas where further government support is required to build capacity to access foreign markets.
- Preparing Dossiers to carefully examine barriers to trade issues and recommend solutions.
- Reporting on progress.
The Group has endeavored to immediately address the issues that local exporters face in accessing the CARICOM market. It is anticipated that a report will be prepared and submitted to His Excellency within two weeks. The first meeting of the Working Group was held on December 10 and was chaired by the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robert M. Persaud.
