CONTACT Magazine (Vol.18 No.3 – December 2018)

attempts to register product under sanitary and
phytosanitary (SPS) regulations in a particular
country, and is faced with a flood of onerous and
ever-expanding requests for more information,
maybe confidential or proprietary information
not part of the listed requirements and apparently
unwarranted, plus inexplicably lengthy delays as the
process drags on. This exporter has stumbled on an NTB.
What they are not
The challenging and time-consuming processes associated with
sanitary registration and labelling requirements in the Latin
American region are not NTBs or NTMs.
Those processes have long been in place there, and the
extensive paperwork, the documentation required and the
related costs incurred should not come as a surprise. They are
just part of the entry requirements for doing business there.
The registration process may be a bit cumbersome, but in most
cases registrations are achieved once the required paperwork
and documentation are supplied.
Other regions or markets that continually
challenge our exporters are the USA,
Forex
restrictions
Canada, Europe, and the UK, with their
stringent requirements for product labelling
and packaging, quality standards and
certification. All this has been cited as a
significant impediment to local exporters
trying to doing business, but it cannot be considered an NTB
or NTM, because the standards and processes are transparent,
well-documented and clearly defined.
Inaccurate information
Sometimes incomplete or incorrect information can create
misunderstandings that lead exporters to conclude that they
are being confronted by an NTB.
In a recent case, an exporter complained to a trade
facilitation organisation about an NTB related to the sanitary
registration process in a Central American market. After
investigating, the said organisation concluded that the
exporter had been misled by inaccurate information
from point persons they had contracted locally to
assist with the registration process.
Getting accurate information from trusted
sources about technical and SPS measures is crucial
to minimising costly delays and avoiding unnecessary
expense.
An exporter’s guide to successful market
entry
Above all, be proactive, do due diligence, and network.
Obtain as much data as you can on technical and sanitary
requirements, and on standards and regulations, through the
Enquiry Point on the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards
(TTBS) website, or through the Ministry of Agriculture, Land
and Fisheries.
Subscribe to the ‘ePing’ online alert system on the TTBS
website: it alerts you with an email when foreign regulators
Customs
Levies
change their requirements.
Access trade facilitation assistance, information
and guidance from the various organisations that
work closely with exporters, like exporTT, the TTMA,
and the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce. They
can recommend legal resources, and advise on how to
navigate the market. They can also refer you to other local
companies that may already be in the market.
Note that other companies already in the market may be
in different industries, and the NTBs and levels of competition
may differ by industry, so use the information gained from
them as a guide, and not as a blueprint.
A call to exporters: dealing with NTBs
To ensure that NTBs do not continue to be a significant
barrier to trade expansion, we need to create a comprehensive
mechanism for resolution.
At present, exporters seek assistance in one of several
ways: through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Trade
Directorate Division) if there is a trade agreement in place,
for example, or by contacting one of the trade facilitation
organisations.
This ad hoc arrangement is not an ideal mechanism, since
it diffuses information among many
different agencies and organisations.
There is no central point where
complaints can be logged to create a
viable database.
We need a more sustainable
solution that can help the various
Regulations
stakeholders to understand which markets and industries are
the key offenders, in order to focus on those areas.
A national committee
One recommendation is to create a national committee to
deal with trade issues/NTBs. This initiative could be led by the
Ministry of Trade and Industry/TTBS, and bring together the
key stakeholders from trade facilitation organisations and the
private sector. When a complaint is lodged and found to be
valid, this committee could then escalate the issue at the
Caricom/Joint Council level, and ultimately to the World
Trade Organisation if necessary.
A study commissioned by the Caricom Secretariat in
2014* noted that “trade has become more difficult recently
despite agreements being in place because of a perceived
surge of protectionist behaviour by import administrations”.
Exporters must therefore demand a solution as a unified
group. We cannot sit idly by, unable to take full advantage
of trade liberalisation and the potential for significant export
growth, at a time when the country desperately needs it.
* Caricom Secretariat Report entitled “Identification and Assessment
of the Underlying Reasons Affecting Caricom’s Trade Performance
Under the Existing Bilateral Trade Agreements with the Dominican
Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela” (BKP Research and
Consulting, March 2014)
www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 33
Trinidad and Tobago Chamber
of Industry and Commerce