Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure & Department of Agriculture has announced the opening ceremony for the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Plant Health Directors’ (CPHD) Forum will take place at 9.00 am on Tuesday, 29 July 2014 at the Marriott Beach Resort, Seven Mile Beach.

Participants:

• Premier, Hon. Alden McLaughlin, MBE, JP,
• Minister for Agriculture Hon. Kurt Tibbetts, OBE, JP, –
• Chief Officer Alan Jones,
• DCO Leyda Nicholson-Makasare,
• Chief Agricultural Officer Adrian Estwick,
• Cayman Islands Dept of Agriculture officials, and .
• Regional delegates.

Background:

Held over four-days, the CPHD Forum will address issues relating to the health of flora in the Caribbean region, and threats thereto.

The Forum comprises the Plant Health Directors of 34 countries/territories of the Caribbean, key regional and international organizations, government entities & universities, including:

• CAB International (CABI)
• Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)
• Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement(CIRAD)
• Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
• United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS)
• University of Florida (UF)
• University of Guyana (UG)
• University of the West Indies (UWI)

CPHD Forum is comprised of the following:

1. The Plant Health Director from each of the Caribbean countries/territories

• CARICOM Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, St Vincent & Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago
• CARICOM’s Associate Members: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turk and Caicos

• French territories: Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique, St. Martin

• All other regional countries or territories of the Caribbean, including but not limited to: Aruba, Bonaire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, United States Virgin Islands

2. Representative(s) from each of the following regional/international organizations and government entities, including but not limited to:

• CAB International (CABI)
• Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)
• Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement(CIRAD)
• Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
• United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS)
• University of Florida (UF)
• University of Guyana (UG)
• University of the West Indies (UWI)