WTO helping Guyana build capacity to handle goods dumping

Dec 15, 2019 News

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), recently facilitated a national capacity building workshop on trade remedies.

Participants engaged in exercises to further their understanding of trade remedies and unfair trading practices.

The forum is to provide public and private sector representatives with an introduction to trade remedies as well as an overview of safeguard measures, anti-dumping measures, subsidies and countervailing measures, and special economic zones and the subsidies and countervailing measures agreement.
Trade remedies, explained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, are measures used to counter instances of unfair trading practices such as dumping by exporting countries that can suffocate local industries producing similar products.
“Guyana presently does not have domestic legislation or a regime to investigate and discipline such practices.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is also currently engaged in efforts to have legislation related to anti-dumping and countervailing measures enacted.
“The workshop sought to build an understanding of the issues and to help the relevant agencies acquire the necessary skills to investigate instances of unfair trading practices.”
In recent years, there has been increasing concerns about the quality of goods arriving in Guyana with indications that dumping of near-expired and low quality ones were happening in Guyana.