IICA inaugurates WTO Reference Center

an San Jose, Costa Rica, June 21, 2012 (IICA). The World Trade Organization Reference Center opened at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will enable the Institute to provide more technical support to the ministries of agriculture of the hemisphere as they become more actively involved in trade negotiations.

The Regional Reference Center installed at IICA Headquarters was inaugurated on June 21 by the Ministers of Agriculture and Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Gloria Abraham and Anabel Gonzalez, respectively.

The Center will provide stakeholders in the public, private and academic sectors with access to reference materials of use in making decisions related to agriculture and international trade. These materials will be available in physical format (books, CDs and DVDs) and on line (WTO data bases).

“This information center will put IICA and the agricultural sectors of the hemisphere in a privileged position to identify opportunities for agricultural trade,” said Abraham.

Minister Gonzalez stated much will be added to the knowledge that exists in the Americas regarding world trade, in which agricultural products account for at least 9% of all exports of merchandise.

“In Latin America, agricultural exports account for 20% of total overseas sales, so the management of information and training in the subject is fundamental, Gonzalez added.

James French, Director of Technical Cooperation at IICA, stated that the dissemination of information on agriculture is one of IICA’s core tasks because it makes markets more transparent.

Serafino Marchese, Chief of the Training and Capacity Building Section of the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation of the WTO, also participated in the inauguration. In his judgment, the information being made available will enable authorities and agricultural producers to make sound decisions, while recognizing that the management of up-to-date information on trade and agriculture is still a challenge.

Adriana Campos, an IICA Trade Policies and Negotiations Specialist, indicated that it has taken more than two years to establish the Center, the aim of which is to enable the ministries of agriculture of the Americas to participate in and monitor bilateral and multilateral agreements.

Campos, who will coordinate the new Center, reiterated that the objective is to support IICA’s member countries so that the agricultural sector can live up to the commitments and meet challenges contained in those agreements.

Federico Sancho, Head of the Inter-American Information and Editorial Production Center at IICA, explained that the Institute has been involved in the field of information management almost since it was found in 1942, and that this experience will make it possible to share throughout the hemisphere information on the most important issues of agriculture and trade.

IICA has been an ad hoc member of the WTO Committee on Agriculture since late 2009.

Information and technical assistance

The reference centers were launched by the WTO in the 1990s as a means reducing the gap that existed between the developed and developing countries vis-à-vis trade negotiations. In addition, they are aimed at promoting on-line learning and technical training.

Even though they were initially intended for countries in Africa and Asia, they can also be established in the headquarters of regional or subregional organizations to intensify and increase cooperation with partners.

Within IICA, it will be located in the Center for Strategic Analysis for Agriculture (CAESPA) and will focus on agriculture and its importance in international trade.

Other similar reference centers in the hemisphere are those in Peru (headquarters of the Andean Community of Nations) and Uruguay (site of the Latin American Integration Association).

There are also reference centers that operate at the national level in Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.

For more information, contact: 
adriana.campos@iica.int
Photo album
Antena Agropecuaria (news capsule - audio - in spanish)