Manufacturers and Producers to Benefit from Training Seminars

Manufacturers, producers and other stakeholders are to benefit from a series of training seminars to be offered by the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Commission (ADSC) over the next seven months.

The 2018 Trade Remedies Seminar Series, which will get underway on April 26, aim to help industry players to build their capacity to defend and expand their markets locally and overseas, through the use of trade remedies.

These remedies can help to protect local manufactures and producers in Jamaica from the ravages of unfair trade practices.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda, is urging stakeholders to make good use of the sessions which he says will provide new and varied opportunities for in-depth training for the industry to understand and utilise trade remedies.

“Industries should not wait until you are struggling to use these tools on your journey toward competitiveness and prosperity,” he said in a speech read by Chief Technical Director in the Industry Ministry, Courtney Cole.

The speech was delivered at the launch of the seminar series at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston on Friday (March 23).

Mr. Samuda assured that the Government is committed to boosting its trade remedies capacity, noting that this is a vital part of the Government’s strategy for managing Jamaica’s international trade engagement.

The Industry Minister said it is especially important that stakeholders are informed about these trade remedies given the globalised world where trade is not always fair.

He noted that trade remedies help to achieve a level playing field for domestic producers in any World Trade Organization (WTO) member country.

“The Jamaican economy is relatively small and open. Trade remedies are therefore a useful tool, necessary to help prevent injury to our Jamaican manufacturers and deter unfair outcomes, which may in some cases result in the complete annihilation of Jamaican industries,” he said.

He pointed out that the trade remedies which are available for use by industries when they are experiencing injury from imports include: antidumping action to remedy dumping; countervailing duty measures to remedy certain instances of subsidization and safeguard action to remedy the effects of significant increases in imports.

“Fierce competition for market share between domestically produced and imported items can cause injury to domestic industries and, in this scenario, WTO members may use trade remedies to help defend domestic industries which suffer injury under defined circumstances that result from unfair trading practices or unanticipated increases in imports,” he said.

In the meantime, Senior Economist, ADSC, Andrew Mighty, told JIS News that the venues and dates for the sessions are to be confirmed shortly.

The ADSC, which falls under the Industry Ministry, has the mandate to investigate complaints from domestic producers of dumping, subsidisation and import surges that have caused, are causing or threaten to cause injury to them.

The Commission also leads in educating the business community on how to use trade remedies and increasing the awareness of the public.

The work of the Commission forms an important part of the infrastructure in Jamaica for defending and maintaining a robust and resilient manufacturing and productive sector.