GRENADA ‘Isle of SPICE’

1. GRENADA‘Isle of SPICE’

2. Demographic Data • Independent country since 1974 • Located in the Eastern Caribbean • Capital is St. George’s • Population is 103,000 • Size is 344 km sq • Major language is ENGLISH and French patois • Currency is East Caribbean dollar (EC ) • Temperatures range from 24C/ 75F to 30C/ 87F • Life expectancy s 71 years • GDP Per Capita is US$5,000

3. Politics of GRENADA • Independent country and member of Commonwealth • Grenada is governed under a parliamentary system based on the British model • Political and legal traditions closely follow those of the UK • Has a Governor General which represents Her Majesty • a Prime Minister and a Cabinet • Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.

4. Industry • Main contributors to the economy is Tourism and Agriculture followed by Construction and Manufacturing • Major agricultural exports are nutmeg and cocoa and fish is emerging • Diversification of the Agriculture industry has not progressed at a rate that would allow for an assured future for this industry.

5. Presentation “The Current Status and Experiences gained with the Identification and Documentation of Living Modified Organisms” in GRENADA

6. CURRENT STATUS • Identification - Depends on the information stated on the labels of prepackaged goods in accordance with the Labelling standards GDS 1: Part 4: 1992: Specification for the Labelling of Commodities – Labelling of Prepackaged Food. (COMPULSORY STANDARD) • Documentation - Depends on the notification obtained from Agencies

7. EXPERIENCE gained with the Identification of LMOs • Grenada does not have any experiences documented to date as it relates to the identification of LMOs and the use of existing documentation systems to fulfil requirements for the identifiaction of shipments of LMOs for imports

8. DIFFICULTIES / Challenges encountered • Lack of the technical expertise required in the identification and documentation of LMOs • Lack of legislative support for monitoring and enforcement • Lack of trained personnel in the area • Lack of public awareness • Lack of public participation • Lack of the required tools to conduct the necessary investigation

9. SPECIFIC capacity - building needs and priorities • Technical expertise • Training and capacity building for personnel in the identification and documentation of LMOs • Assistance in the identification of the entire BIOTECHNOLOGY process • Assistance in building and strengthening of negotiation ability • Strengthening of the inspection and monitoring of imports and exports of products • Modernisation and strengthening of the legislative framework

10. RECOMMENDATIONS for improving the National Implementation of the requirements for the Identification and documentation of LMOs • PCR (Poly Chain Reaction) • Instrument for identification of LMOs (laboratory facilities and trained personnel) • Legislative strengthening • Assistance in enforcement • Infrastructure • Human resource development • Improvement in the communication channels between agencies

11. Recommendations cont’d • Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on BIOSAFETY (since the main focus of this protocol is the transboundary movement of LMOs) • More awareness angagement of the public on the issues as it relates to the subject area.

12. CONCLUSION • The importance of the Biosafety Protocol must be stressed for developing countries • Grenada is waiting for guidance on the entire issue of GMOs and LMOs from CARICOM • GRENADA needs to acquire the tools and the facilities required to deal with modern Biotechnology

13. Grenada is at a stage where the acquisition of the tools, skills, knowledge and expertise required to improve the documentation and identification of LMOs is of paramount importance for positioning itself on the World map and market.

14. THANK YOU