Media Center

Press Release

OAS Promotes Intellectual Property Export Products in the Caribbean

The Organization of American States (OAS), through its Executive Secretariat for Integral Development, today launched the publication, “IP Value Capture: Caribbean Opportunities for Higher Income,” as an effort to support and expand trade opportunities in the Caribbean and enhance their competitiveness in search of more sustainable economic growth.

The publication is part of a broader project aimed at generating greater IP value among eight distinctive products from three Caribbean countries: Jamaica, Grenada, and Belize. It is also targeted to address the problem of the intangible or non-physical value of products in developed country markets where the physical value is the main source of business income.

The eight products that have been identified to be part of the project are: Jamaican natural beauty products, reggae music, Jamaican Logwood honey, West Indian Sea Island cotton, Grenadian nutmeg, Grenadian cocoa, Belizean marine bio assets and Belizean Xate. Those products have been selected for their special characteristics, history, appreciation at the international level and their importance as sources of export earnings for Caribbean producers.

“African and Caribbean country farmers and producers have important distinctive products, such as farmed products, artisan wares and processed products, some of which have been developed over centuries. In many situations, the farmers are only receiving 1-5% of the retail value of these products,” explains the publication presented today.

During a roundtable discussion focused on the issue of Caribbean IP value capture opportunities, the OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development, Alfonso Quiñónez, asserted that “the identification of distinctive products and services, based on the innovative and creative capacity of Caribbean producers and the unique characteristics of the culture and biodiversity of the region, offer us a glimpse of the potential for economic opportunities. The challenge ahead is how to build the business strategies and public policies to support the realization of those opportunities and potential.”

The publication “IP Value Capture: Caribbean Opportunities for Higher Income” was produced by Light Years IP, a non-profit organization that assists low-income producers in moving out of poverty by engaging farmers and producers throughout the world in their fundamental rights—restoring them to a position of balanced negotiation in the global market place. It also had the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the collaboration of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the people of the Caribbean.

The roundtable discussion held at OAS headquarters was attended by U.S. Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA) and other representatives from various OAS member states, and aimed at exploring future steps in the promotion of IP value for higher income in the Caribbean.

Reference: E-146/10