CARTAC Hosts Regional Strategizing Workshop for Further Economic Integration | WPN World People News

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) in Saint Lucia held a workshop from October 20 – 23, 2014, to develop and implement customs and other border control reforms to facilitate deeper economic integration and free circulation of goods within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Economic Union.

Officials from border control agencies and related government ministries from member countries of the OECS along with several regional partner organizations, participated in the workshop, which aimed to: (i) take stock of obstacles and gaps for the free circulation of goods; (ii) identify solutions to address these challenges; (iii) prioritize the solutions; and (iv) develop an action plan to roll out implementation strategies.

Government agencies and regulators other than customs administrations play crucial roles to facilitate the movement and clearance of imports and exports. To that end, various OECS border agencies collaborated at this workshop to consider the challenges and to set a path toward the harmonization of policies and procedures, both at the national and regional levels.

At the launch of the workshop, Ms. Virginia Paul, the head of the Trade Policy Unit of the OECS Secretariat, said: “I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to CARTAC for its commitment to the regional integration process in the OECS and the wider CARICOM region and particularly its financial and technical support to facilitate this workshop. Its efforts to bring senior-level officials together from each OECS member state are highly commendable, and we look forward to a fruitful and vibrant working relationship into the future.” The workshop found the need to develop model legislation dealing with agriculture and standards issues along the lines of the harmonized model CARICOM customs legislation now being adopted by OECS members.

The workshop is part of CARTAC’s decade old commitment to provide impactful technical assistance to Caribbean customs administrations to help strengthen their systems, laws, procedures, organizational structures, and operational strategies to deal with the challenges of the interconnected global economy.

Source: International Monetary Fund