Shaw launches new trade information portal
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw has launched the Jamaica Trade Information Portal (JTIP), the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.
The portal, which aims to improve trade facilitation and generate more trade and investment, will allow the business community to have quick access to the country’s trade rules.
The ministry, in a release yesterday, said JTIP is a one-stop shop for information on import-export regulations and procedures and will be hosted by the Trade Board Limited.
Speaking at the launch held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston yesterday, Shaw said, “With the Trade Information Portal, Jamaica will have a single authoritative trade information source for businesses to easily access the information they need at any time.”
The portal, Shaw explained, will bring export and import-related regulatory information and step-by-step guidance on a single platform to allow traders, investors and consumers a smoother interface with the regulatory and procedural steps needed to facilitate their businesses. This, he stated, will ultimately drive Jamaica’s collective economic growth
The minister further explained that JTIP also represents Jamaica’s efforts to fulfil its commitment to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement, under Article I — which speaks to making information available through the Internet.
The JTIP forms part of the wider trade facilitation initiatives of the government to include the Jamaica Electronic Single Window (ESW) for Trade being implemented by the Jamaica Customs Agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
Under the ESW, approximately 20 border agencies will be integrated into a single platform to include the Trade Board Limited which has already commenced. Other key MICAF agencies to be integrated into the ESW are the Plant Quarantine Division, the Veterinary Services Division, and the National Compliance Regulatory Authority.
The JTIP project is supported by the Trade Facilitation Programme managed by the World Bank Group and funded by eight donor countries, namely Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom and the European Commission.
