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Market Study to Assess the Nature and Demand for Laboratory Testing Services in Dominica

The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica (GOCD) recognizes the need to develop national standards and legislation consistent with regional and international requirements for trade. This is is also integral to the honouring of transparency obligations of multi-lateral agreements. The establishment of national standards and legislation must be supported with the development of national capacities in laboratory testing and calibration to allow monitoring of compliance with established standards and adherence to fair trade practices. The GOCD has committed itself to implementing a comprehensive and holistic approach to improving standards in compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Agreement, Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT) Agreements and conformity Assessment Programmes. In pursuance of this goal, the Government established the Dominica Bureau of Standards in 1998. The Bureau has statutory responsibility for the quality of goods and services that are subject to trade in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

 

The Bureau of Standards and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry recognizes that attainment of the national objectives of social and economic development requires the establishment of appropriate infrastructure to support the manufacturing and service sectors. Key among the infrastructural requirements is the building and strengthening of Dominica's national testing capacity in conformity with international standards. In this regard. the Government has secured financing under the European Union funded Special Framework of Assistance (SFA 2001) Agricultural Diversification Programme for the construction and equipping of a National Center of Testing Excellence (NCTE). The National Centre of Testing Excellence will be established to conform to the International Standard ISO/IEC 17025 "General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories." The NCTE will represent a critical mechanism for advancing national trade development and facilitating Dominica's integration into the global economy through the building and strengthening of Dominica's national testing capacity.

 

A Service Contract was awarded to the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for conducting a Market Study to Assess the Nature and Demand for Laboratory Testing Services in Dominica. CARIRI submitted its final report outlining its findings and recommendations on May 23rd 2005.

 

Agricultural Information Management System Study

A major identified constraint to the effective implementation and management of government’s policy for the diversification of the agricultural sector are deficiencies relating to market intelligence and agricultural statistics. The result is heightened uncertainty in the sub-sector, higher perceived risk levels and a diminished level of confidence for investment in the sector. The AIMS study represents a critical activity of the overall Agricultural Diversification Programme, since the success of the program is linked to the collection, organization, analysis, generation and dissemination of comprehensive and readily available data on all aspects of production, marketing, income, expenditure, and capital formation in agriculture and related areas such as the newly emerging data on plant and animal health, quarantine and food safety for example. The existence of this data pool will among other things provide a reliable basis for agricultural analysis, policy formulation, development planning and assist in creating an environment for facilitating investment in the sub-sector. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the more efficient management of agricultural information will enable the agricultural sector to react more swiftly and efficiently to changing market conditions and to cope with the imperatives of a more competitive and globalised international trading environment.

Against this background, a Service Contract was signed on August 18th 2004 between Integrated Trade Solutions from Barbados and The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for the developement of an Agricultural Information Management System in keeping with the need for the provision of more targeted, effective, reliable, timely and commercially applicable agricultural information to stakeholders in the sub-sector. The final report was submitted in April 2005. The implementation of the report's recommendations was undertaken between November 2006 - October 2008.

 

Review of the Title by Registration (1883) and Land and Survey (1988) Act

In recent times based on the continued erosion of banana export preferences to the EU leading to falling prices and a myriad of structural and other challenges facing the sector, its performance has been characterised by declining output, declining number of farmers and increasing acreages of undeutilized farm land. Thus, land, an asset for families and individuals is now not utilised to its full potential. This situation is compounded by the limitations of the current Title by Registration Act (1883) and the limited capacity of the Government to implement the Land and Survey Act (1998).

Under the Title by Registration Act, the Registrar is responsible for issuing Certificates of Title but has very limited access to resources required to ensure the technical authenticity or accuracy of the survey plans, the approval for subdivision and the legality of submission which form the basis of the title. The Land and Survey Act regulates the execution of land surveys, and makes the director of Lands and Surveys responsible for the authentication of survey plans prior to the issue of Certificates of Title, but the associated Regulations and administrative systems have not yet been developed. Therefore two of the main legislative planks of the land tenure system do not facilitate the use of land as collateral for investments. As such, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica (GOCD), as part of its development agenda - and specifically towards the aim of supporting rural development and agricultural diversification remains committed to the development of interventions in land tenure and management with the objective of:

  1. supporting the process of ensuring clear and secure land tenure,

  2. itensifying the use of existing land resource,

  3. bringing non/underutilised land into production in an economically viable manner and

  4. supporting increased productivity of land as a factor of production

In this regard the GOCD, in 2005, under the direction of a Cabinet appointed Task Force embarked on a Land Tenure and Administration Reform Programme (LTARP) geared towards the improvement and mordernisation of the legislative, institutional and administrative systems governing land administration and tenure in Dominica. The Programme is specifically geared at:

  1. the provision of a clear and transparent legal framework for land registration ownership and tenancy,

  2. the adoption of improved systems to facilitate and guarantee property rights and the development of effective and efficient methods of property transfers,

  3. strengthening of the capacity of and linkages between key institutions and agents of Government involved in the administration of land.

The EU has accepted that the GOCD's LTARP is a sound strategy for achieving the required reforms in land tenure and management in Dominica and have signed a Framework of Mutual Obligation thereby allocating funds under the STABEX financing instrument for the provision of untargeted budgetary support to the GOCD in support of this initiative.

A Service Contract was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Brown & Co LLP (U.K.) on March 7th 2008 for the provision of Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica for conducting a study on the Title by Registration Act and the Land and Surveys Act. Brown & Co. LLP will conduct a thorough review of the two acts and other relevant legislation where they will underscore deficiencies and weaknesses in the current legislative provisions and make feasible proposals for rectifying these deficiencies. The final Report outlining Brown and Co. findings and recommendations is scheduled to be submitted on sometime in June 2009.