Turks & Caicos Delegation attends Agroalimentaria in Dominican Republic

#TurksandCaicos, June 12, 2023 – On 31 May 2023, a delegation led by Honorable Otis Morris, Minister of Home Affairs accompanied by Deputy Permanent Secretary, Arthur Been and Director of Agriculture Wilhemina Kissoonsingh attended the Agroalimentaria 2023, organized by the Dominican Agroindustry Board (JAD) and the Dominican trade and investment promotion office ProDominicana in the Dominican Republic (DR).   Acknowledged as one of the most important Food Industry trade fairs in the Caribbean region, where food, tobacco, and beverage firms showcase their products to international buyers; the event featured a conference on “New Challenges to Comply with The Requirements of the International Market.”

The Turks and Caicos Islands was invited to present at the conference where the Minister brought remarks thanking the organizers for the invitation and shared his government’s vision and plans for the enhancement of Food Security and act on CARCOM’s goal to reduce food imports from the USA by 25% by 2025, as well as formalize a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dominican Republic to improve trade and share technical competencies among other things.

The Director of Agriculture, Wilhelmina Kissoonsingh presented on the Phytosanitary and Safety Requirements for importation of agriculture products from the DR. In her presentation she also highlighted the challenges associated with the quality of goods received, the validity of documents received from importers as well as her department’s need to do Pest Risk Analysis to allow safe Agriculture commodities to be imported from the DR.  Attendees also had the opportunity to explore the trade exhibits, which featured the best of export products produced by the Dominican Republic as well as the wider Caribbean Region.

A special meeting was convened subsequent to the Agriculture Department’s presentation with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture as well the Pro Dominica.  Meetings were held with the Director General of Livestock, the Director of Animal Safety, the Director, Deputy Director and Chief Technical officer of Plant Health where the possibility of doing the Risk Analysis for Agriculture Commodities was discussed, the challenges presently encountered and ways to resolve these as well as contacts to improve communication and cooperation among the relevant Departments.  The Director and Deputy Director of Pro Dominica (the institution tasked with the promotion and facilitation of exports and foreign direct investment in the DR) welcomed the delegation and promised to assist to ensure the business between the two countries improve.

The Honorable Minister with responsibility for Agriculture, Josephine Connolly, expressed profound thanks to Minister Morris for his attendance on her behalf. Minister Connolly was unable to attend due to prior official commitments.

The event created the opportunity to commence work needed to ensure safe, nutritional agriculture products are imported from the Dominican Republic as well as strengthen existing relations between the two countries.