STATEMENT BY THE THIRTY- FIFTH MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (COTED) WITH RESPECT TO RECOMMENDATIONS TO ALLEVIATE THE EFFECTS OF RISING PRICES OF FOOD ON THE REGION’S ECONOMIES

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As rising prices of food continue to impact the Region’s economies, the Caribbean Community‘s (CARICOM’s) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) strongly emphasised the need for increased production of agriculture products. The COTED called for urgent acceleration in the pace of implementation of the measures to alleviate the nine key binding constraints to agriculture production and trade (commonly referred to as the Jagdeo Initiative). Member States were urged to coordinate, develop and implement interventions aimed at addressing these constraints. Failure to do so cannot be an option.

The removal of these constraints would also strengthen Food Security measures and reduce the level of food imports into the Region. When, in 2002, the Heads of Government agreed that agriculture can and must play an increasingly important role in the development trajectory of CARICOM States, the lead Head of Government proposed a strategy for Strengthening Regional Agriculture for Sustainable Growth and Development. That thrust is as important now as it was when the Initiative was launched in 2005, given the Region’s burgeoning food import bill, the sustained high food prices, the risks associated with climate change, and the current global financial and economic crisis.

All of these directly impact the thrust and focus of the Community on food and nutrition security and combating non-communicable diseases, and impose new challenges to the alleviation measures. We are confident that steady progress in addressing the nine key binding constraints, both at the national and regional levels, will open the gateway to vast profitable opportunities for economic development and increased production and trade.

December 11, 2012