Yesterday at this highly anticipated and well attended seminar, Carmen Gil, First Secretary and General Consul of Embassy of Costa Rica in Trinidad and Tobago, gave us current and historical context to her home country and broke down business and cultural behaviours. For example, “Silence means no. Coffee breaks are critical to productivity and Outsourcing of Services is the major import to the Costa Rican Market.”
Research Officer Vincent Ramlochan focused on market and process details that will affect exporters. He also took time to eliminate fears on costly processes and delays in product registration. He emphasised that PRODUCT REGISTRATION IS NOT COSTLY noting that considering what you recieve and how you benefit the costs: Food and Beverage Registration / 100USD/ 22 days to process and Chemical Product Registration/ 50USD/ 15 days to process – were not significant detractors from the market. WATCH THIS VIDEO to hear more of Vincent’s review of the Product Registration Process.
Sharon Pardo, Trade Logistics and Customs Specialist from the Batalla Law Office was so clear in her explanation of Distributor Law, Distributor Contracts, Intellectual Property and the role of the law firm in the product registration process, that there were no questions asked at the end of her presentation!
Rounding out the programme was Trade Analyst Melissa Marshal of the Ministry of Trade and Industry who let us know that Trinidad and Tobago’s major exports to Costa Rica are cereal preparation, other food preparations and lighting fixtures. She also shed light on the CARICOM/ Costa Rica Trade Agreement which covers trade in all goods with the exception of Items in Annex 3, Tables A and B and with conditions under Tables C and D. These include certain agricultural products that are affected by seasonality where duty will apply for that period as well as certain processed goods. The agreement also allows for negotiation of #services.
Exporters, Melissa advises that a CARICOM meeting is scheduled soon and you are welcome to bring issues encountered in the export and product registration process, to exporTT and the Ministry as they will be up for discussion.
