The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) officially announces the publication of the Special Call for Proposals – Food Safety for CARIFORUM agro- processing firms to receive financial assistance as part of the Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP) funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) on May 28, 2014.
The Special Call for Proposals – Food Safety is a reimbursable grant funding facility specifically designed to provide financial assistance to legally registered agro processing firms within the CARIFORUM region who are exporting or have the potential to export their products to the European Union. It is a facility for firms looking for funding to support their capacity building to meet the food production standards of the European Union (EU) market.
While the challenge also exists among the large enterprises in the Region, it is very prevalent among small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The allocation of this funding is hoped to ensure that goods of regional origin are produced under standard quality control conditions to meet the sanitary and regulatory requirements of the EU marketplace (such as HACCP, GAPs, GlobalGAP, ISO 14000, Fair Trade Certification, BRC, QF 1000, Primus GFS etc).
The Agency’s Executive Director, in her address at the launch event of the Call and its Food Safety Preparedness Programme counterparts stated,“This call, with a total commitment of US $200,000 seeks to ensure that food and beverage firms produce their goods under standard quality control conditions to meet the sanitary and regulatory requirements of the international marketplace and to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the EPA. Through this special call, we endeavour to increase the number of CARIFORUM agro-processors certified to export to the EU and beyond.“
Under the 10th EDF RPSDP, the Agency is offering, with this Special Call for Proposals – Food Safety,grants of up to 10,000 euros which represent a maximum of 70% of the total project cost to CARIFORUM based agro-processing firms. Firms that are exporting or demonstrate their potential to export and who meet the eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply to this Call.
The deadline for this Special Call for Proposals – Food Safety is July 9, 2014 and more information can be found at www.carib-export.com. Contact: Sam Kruiner, Special Advisor – Export Development (skruiner@carib-export.com) , Caribbean Export Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999
