(Ministry of Agriculture) -The Division of Agriculture held a one day workshop on July 20, to build capacity in the area of export trading.

Head of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Unit, Nalson Laville, said that the workshop was geared at building capacity to address the gaps in the export and production systems which were noticed after a recent audit of Banana exports.

He said that the aim of the workshop was to develop an integrated approach to export certification with a thrust at exporting good, high quality and safe products to trading partners.

According to him, the workshop also aimed at incorporating integrated crop management systems and also an integrated systems approach for pest reduction in our exports.

Laville said that the latter is extremely important since many products which are being used to treat exports are being banned in certain countries. Therefore alternatives need to sourced in order to ensure that fresh produce reaches markets safely and are acceptable by import countries especially when it comes to very stringent import requirements such as those of the US and European Union markets.

The Division is seeking to use the science and technology available to ensure that Dominica continues to trade safely and encourage and attract foreign exchange.

Persons from the Bureau of Standards, Dominica Export Import Agency (Dexia), The Banana Unit, Plant Protection and Quarantine Services as well as the Agricultural Extension Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture all participated in the workshop.