10th EDF SPS Project STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF PRIVATE STANDARDS ON CARIFORUM COUNTRIES FINAL REPORT STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF PRIVATE STANDARDS ON CARIFORUM COUNTRIES FINAL REPORT Prepared by Ian McDonell AgriFood Consultant May 31, 2016 10th EDF SPS Project: Support to the Caribbean Forum of ACP States in the Implementation of Commitments Undertaken Under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) “This action was funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Project being executed by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)”. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................................................................4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................................5 1. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................................................7 1.1 The CARIFORUM ......................................................................................................................................................7 1.2 The Lomé Convention and the Cotonou Agreement ................................................................................7 2. STUDY OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................................................................................................9 3. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 4. SNAPSHOT OF THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN CARIFORUM COUNTRIES .................................................... 11 4.1 Economic Impact: ................................................................................................................................................ 11 4.2 Profile of Agricultural Smallholders ............................................................................................................... 12 5. SNAPSHOT OF THE FISHERIES SECTOR ................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Economic Impact ................................................................................................................................................. 14 5.2 Profile of Fishers ................................................................................................................................................... 15 6. STANDARDS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 16 6.1 Public Standards ................................................................................................................................................... 16 6.1.1 International Standards ........................................................................................................................................... 16 6.1.2 Regional Standards .................................................................................................................................................... 17 6.1.3 National Standards .................................................................................................................................................... 18 6.2 Private Standards ................................................................................................................................................. 18 6.2.1 The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) ............................................................................................................. 18 6.2.2 World Trade Organization (WTO) ........................................................................................................................ 19 6.2.3 Types of Private Standards ...................................................................................................................................... 21 6.2.4 Equivalence (Benchmarking) of Private Certification Schemes ................................................................ 22 7. FOOD VALUE CHAIN IN CARIFORUM COUNTRIES ............................................................................................... 23 8. COUNTRY PROFILES ....................................................................................................................................................... 24 8.1 Belize ........................................................................................................................................................................ 24 8.2 Dominican Republic ........................................................................................................................................... 26 8.3 Grenada ................................................................................................................................................................... 28 8.4 Jamaica .................................................................................................................................................................... 29 8.5 Saint Lucia ............................................................................................................................................................... 31 8.6 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.................................................................................................................. 32 8.7 Trinidad and Tobago ........................................................................................................................................... 33 9. EFFECT OF PRIVATE STANDARDS ON MARKET ACCESS .................................................................................... 35 9.1 Market Access - Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 38 10. COST OF COMPLIANCE ............................................................................................................................................ 43 10.1 Cost of compliance - Recommendations .................................................................................................... 48 11. POVERTY (ALLEVIATION/CREATION) .................................................................................................................. 49 11.1 Poverty (Alleviation/Creation) - Recommendations ............................................................................... 51 12. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................................ 54 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................................................... 56 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 1 Questionnaire/Interview Guide ........................................................................................................................ 58 Appendix 2: Survey Analysis: ..................................................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix 3: Organisations Consulted .................................................................................................................................... 62 Appendix 4: Generic Checklist of Control Points in Private Standards ....................................................................... 65 ABBREVIATIONS ACP Africa, Caribbean and Pacific ADEXVO Asociación Dominicana de Exportadores de Vegetales Orientales CAHFSA Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency CARIFORUM Forum of the Caribbean Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States BAHA Belize Agricultural Health Authority BRC British Retail Consortium CARDI Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute CNMSF Comité Nacional para la Aplicación de Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias CROSQ CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality EPA Economic Partnership Agreement EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FSMA Food Safety Modernization Act of the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America FSSC Food Safety System Certification GAA Global Aquaculture Alliance GAP Good Agricultural Practices GDP Gross domestic product GFSI Global Food Safety Initiative GRMS Global Red Meat Standard HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points INDOCAL Dominican Republic Quality Institute ISO International Organization for Standardization IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IICA Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture IPPC International Plant Protection Convention ITC International Trade Centre OECS Organization of Eastern Caribbean States OIE Organisation for Animal Health Primus GFS Primus Global Food Safety SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises SPS