Story by Stan Bishop
In its bid to garner increased access for local products and
services to the United States market, officials from Export
Saint Lucia recently embarked on an exploratory tour of
the United States. The mission also sought to address the
disparate balance of trade that exists between the two
countries, which sees U.S. products flooding the Saint
Lucian market while Saint Lucian exports to its counterpart
are way less in volume. ISO certification, and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
and HAACP certification. Proper labelling will come under
the microscope.
Sunita Daniel, Executive Director of Saint Lucia Export, said
the mission was crucial as her agency continues to mull
markets where local exports are declining as well as fine-
tuning areas of improvement for exports. The trip, she
noted, confirmed tremendous growth potential for Saint
Lucian products in the U.S. market. “We need to prove to the U.S. that we are able to provide
a product that is of a certain standard, and we are able to
do so,” the Executive Director said. “So we’ll go through
the regulations and show them that Saint Lucia is ready
to export.”
With assistance from the Missions in New York and Miami,
the delegation was able to meet with U.S. businesses
showing interest in various products, including dried
mangoes, breadfruit, seamoss and chocolates. In some
instances, local companies have secured contracts for
supplying these products.
These are all positive indicators for Saint Lucian
entrepreneurs. However, due to stringent U.S. laws, many
products -- especially agricultural -- have been denied
access to that market for not meeting quality standards.
Daniel said the team was able to allay these concerns.
“We also have improved capacity to deal with issues at
the border,” Daniel said at a March 6 presser. “We now
have contacts with the USDA (United States Department
of Agriculture) and U.S. FDA (United States Food and Drug
Administration)…so that when a Saint Lucia product gets
to the U.S. and there’s an issue, (it will) ensure that our
products do not get rejected.”
She added: “So we’ve started talking to the Ministry of
Agriculture as to how we can get those restrictions lifted
for Saint Lucian exporters.”
An invitation to an upcoming Miami event -- the Prism Art
Show -- was extended to the delegation which presented
works by Saint Lucia artists to organizers. Daniel said the
curator will be visiting Saint Lucia to choose which artists’
works will be displayed.
Another invitation, this time to Miami Carnival, was
extended, with discussions centred on using more Saint
Lucian artistes in the Carnival line-up. Daniel said a pitch
was made for more local designers and their works to be
used for Miami Carnival. But that’s not all.
“We spoke to some members of the Miami Chamber of
Commerce who have agreed to look at using Johanan
Dujon’s (of Algas Organics) natural product on baseball
fields and golf courses,” she said.
In the next fiscal year, Export Saint Lucia will undertake
initiatives aimed at improving exporters’ capacity,
including increased certification for manufacturers such
40 SL-YOU | Business, People & Lifestyle
Daniel said that while excellent products are manufactured
locally, labelling and packaging often fall short in standards.
Even testing of products will form part of Export Saint
Lucia’s major plans for the new fiscal year.
Export Saint Lucia, a statutory agency with the mandate
to promote economic growth through enterprise, shares a
close relationship with the Ministry of Commerce’s Small
Business Development Centre (SBDC) -- through which
small businesses must be channelled before becoming an
Export Saint Lucia client.
The services offered by these agencies are especially
important for small businesses, many of whom do not
have the resources to sustain their growth path let alone
gain access to foreign markets.
Said Daniel: “What we’ve tried to do as an agency is to
not only get the markets for our clients, but also build the
capacity of our producers and manufacturers to also meet
that market.”
She added: “You cannot have a good export product if
you do not have a good national product. So we’re very
particular about helping our small and big enterprises in
getting markets.”
Daniel said that while small businesses produce excellent
goods and services, many of them cannot afford PR and
advertising budgets. Which is why it’s important that
agencies like Export Saint Lucia exist: to make known the
unknown about local entrepreneurs.
“There’s no need for you to get an outside product when
there’s a perfectly great product on island that Saint
Lucians can support,” she said. “That helps them in getting
that revenue to build up their production capacity to
eventually export.”
Formerly the Saint Lucia Trade and Export Agency (TEPA),
Export Saint Lucia is the lead agency mandated to
spearhead the island’s national export development effort.
The overall objective is to increase aggregate volume and
value of exports from Saint Lucia.
Export Saint Lucia’s vision is to create the institutional
arrangements that provide the best quality and most
relevant services for the development of the private sector
and to optimize Saint Lucia’s export opportunities.
www.slyoumag.com | July-August 2019