Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer 
BARRIERS ARE set to tumble, doors will be flung open, there will be free movement of (some) persons, goods and services across regional borders, come next week, when the Caribbean Single Market (CSM) gets under way.
More regional items are expected to fill our supermarket shelves, and, hopefully, Jamaica will take full advantage of similar opportunities in other CARICOM countries.
Already, figures from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) show that imports from our sister CARICOM countries value nearly US$562 million, with Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, St. Lucia and Guyana among our major CARICOM importers. Trinidad alone accounts for nearly three quarters of imported products from CARICOM, surmounting US$482 million dollars in value.
As CARICOM goods swarm our local market, there have been moves to harmonise the standardisation of regional goods. The CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) has been at the helm of this, working closely with standardisation bodies across the region, including the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) to ensure that goods crossing our borders meet world standard and quality.
Most goods imported from CARICOM conform to standards, communications manager at BSJ, Ellis Laing says.
"The compliance level has been high in most areas. The exceptions are in the areas of snacks, garments and cold storage items. These products are mainly in breach of the labelling standards and are from varying CARICOM countries," he says.
He says sometimes labels do not bear the company's address and nationality. This makes it difficult for consumers to find the company if there is a problem with the product.
EFFECTIVE COMPLIANCE PROGRAMME
"The Bureau of Standards Jamaica has a very effective compliance programme which will not change with the introduction of the Caribbean Single Market (CSM). CROSQ is currently spearheading the drive to build quality infrastructure across the region which will augur well for the CSM," he says.
Several seminars have been held to help prepare producers for increased exports, Laing says. Seminars so far have included training in good manufacturing practices, packaging, labelling and sanitation. There have also been moves to implement systems to improve the quality of products from small and medium enterprises and sessions geared at sharing information on hazard analysis and critical control points.
But improving the quality of exports is only one issue facing Jamaica. There are also concerns about the preparedness of the region to tackle export opportunities that exist in labour, agriculture, tourism and entertainment sectors.
Figures from STATIN show that imports from CARICOM far outweigh our exports to these countries. In fact, the value of imports from CARICOM is up to 10 times more than our exports. Last year, Jamaica earned nearly US$52 million from exports to CARICOM, while imports from those countries were $562 million.
