Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697645991112.pdf (Bahamas)
9 1 0 2 r e b m e c e D 2 0 NATIONAL FORUM 2019: STANDARDS FACILITATING TRADE Ballroom, Breezes Superclubs Program Agenda 1 9 0 2 r e 08:30-09:00 b 09:00-09:45 m e c e 09:45-10:15 D 10:15-12:15 6 0 9 1 0 2 r e b 08:30-09:00 m 09:00-09:45 e c e D 2 09:45-10:15 0 10:15-12:15 12:15-13:30 13:30-15:00 12:15-13:30 13:30-15:00 Day 1 Registration Registration 9 1 0 2 r e b m e c e D 3 0 8:00 am Welcome and expectations 9:00 am Day 1 Registration Welcome and expectations Opening, Welcome & Introductions DR RENAE BUFFORD, ∙ Official welcome Executive Director, Bahamas Bureau of Standards & Quality ∙ Objectives of the workshop (BBSQ) ∙ Introduction and expectations Brief Remarks by of participants AARON BRICE, Chairman, BBSQ Tea/coffee break ∙ Official welcome ∙ Objectives of the workshop ∙ Introduction and expectations of participants Export related services Remarks by provided by National REGINALD SAUNDERS, Standards Bodies (NSB) Permanent Secretary (Acting) Ministry Of Labour who represents and Trade Support Sen Hon Dion Foulkes, institutions (TSI) Minister of Labour Tea/coffee break 9:20 am ∙ The role of the NSB : Export related services Introduction of Zhivargo generic and country provided by National Laing, Chief Negotiator, WTO example Standards Bodies (NSB) Executive Director and ∙ The role of TSIs : generic and Trade Support Senior Policy Fellow of the Government and Public and country example institutions (TSI) Policy Institute, by ∙ Groupwork by participants REGINALD SAUNDERS, › Hema Menon Permanent Secretary
 (Acting), Ministry Of Labour ∙ The role of the NSB : generic and country example Lunch break Bahamas WTO Update ∙ The role of TSIs : generic The TBT Agreement ZHIVARGO LAING, and country example Chief Negotiator, WTO Executive ∙ Overview ∙ Groupwork by participants Director and Senior Policy Fellow of ∙ Importance of International the Government and Public Policy Institute Standards › Hema Menon Lunch break ∙ Transparency obligations The TBT Agreement and benefits 10:00 am Moderator, DR RENAE BUFFORD, ∙ Code of good practice Executive Director, Bahamas of the TBT Agreement Bureau of Standards & Quality (BBSQ) (Annex 3) ∙ Overview ∙ Importance of International Standards 15:00-15:30 ∙ Transparency obligations ∙ TBT Committee › Lauro Locks and benefits Tea/coffee break ∙ Code of good practice of the TBT Agreement (Annex 3) 15:30-17:00 The TBT Agreement (cont.)
∙ TBT Committee › Lauro Locks ∙ Overview ∙ Importance of International Standards Tea/coffee break ∙ Transparency obligations Benefitting from the TBT agreement at the national level Day 2 Day 2 TEA/COFFEE BREAK Informal networking Informal networking ∙ Specific trade concerns (STC) ∙ Notifications 08:30-09:00 Introduction Hema Menon, Trade Training Officer, 09:00-10:30 Export Quality Management, International Trade Centre (ITC) 9 1 0 2 r e b 08:30-09:00 › Lauro Locks m Benefitting from the TBT agreement at 09:00-10:30 Tea/coffee break 10:30-11:00 10:30 am Overview WTO and NTMs, the national level LAURO LOCKS e 11:00-12:30 (WTO) c e D 10:30-11:00 3 11:00-12:30 0 and TBT Committee: › Lauro Locks principles, practices and dispute-prevention, Tea/coffee break 12:30-13:30 LAURO LOCKS (WTO) 13:30-15:00 ∙ Generic TBT transparency tools: helping to overcome ∙ Country examples technical barriers to trade › Hema Menon (ePing), ∙ Generic ∙ Country examples › Hema Menon ∙ Specific trade concerns (STC) ∙ Notifications The role of the National Enquiry point 11:00 am Overview TBT Agreement Lunch break ∙ Overview 12:30 am › Gergana Kiskinova Benefitting from the SPS/TBT notification alert system ePing 12:30-13:30 Lunch break GERGANA KISKINOVA 15:00-15:30 (WTO) Tea/coffee break The role of the National Enquiry point 13:30-15:00 1:00 pm Benefitting from the SPS/TBT notification alert system ePing Benefitting from the SPS/TBT notifica- tion alert system ePing (cont.)
15:30-17:00 Q & A “International Standards and the Impact on ∙ Overview Trade & Industry” ∙ Hands-on training › Gergana Kiskinova 15:00-15:30 15:30-17:00 › Gergana Kiskinova Tea/coffee break HEMA MENON (ITC), LAURO LOCKS, 17:00 (WTO) and GERGANA KISKINOVA (WTO) End of day 2 Benefitting from the SPS/TBT notifica- tion alert system ePing (cont.)
∙ Hands-on training › Gergana Kiskinova Closing Remarks - MR. HUEL ROBINS Vice Chairman, BBSQ 08:30-09:00 End of day 2 Day 3 09:00-10:30 Informal networking Leveraging the TBT agreement to maintain and improve market access ∙ How to strategize and methodically deal Day 3 with TBT Informal networking › Hema Menon 10:30-11:00 11:00-12:30 Leveraging the TBT agreement to Tea/coffee break maintain and improve market access The TBT national ∙ How to strategize and methodically deal coordination mechanism with TBT 1:30 pm 17:00 9 1 0 2 r e b 08:30-09:00 m 09:00-10:30 e c e 9 1 0 2 r e b 15:00-15:30 15:30-17:00 The TBT Agreement (cont.)
and benefits ∙ Code of good practice ∙ Overview ∙ Importance of International of the TBT Agreement (Annex 3) Standards ∙ Transparency obligations ∙ TBT Committee › Lauro Locks and benefits 17:00 ∙ Code of good practice End of day 1 of the TBT Agreement (Annex 3) ∙ TBT Committee › Lauro Locks 17:00 End of day 1 NOTE : Order of topics, times and speakers are subject to change 10:30-11:00 D 11:00-12:30 4 0 m e c e D 4 0 ∙ Importance of coordination among › Hema Menon stakeholders Tea/coffee break ∙ Examples from the region The TBT national ∙ Examples from other regions coordination mechanism › Hema Menon 12:30-13:30 ∙ Importance of coordination among Lunch break 13:30-15:00 stakeholders The TBT national coordination ∙ Examples from the region mechanism (cont.)
∙ Examples from other regions › Hema Menon ∙ Group work › Hema Menon 12:30-13:30 Lunch break 15:00-15:30 Tea/coffee break 13:30-15:00 The TBT national coordination 15:30-17:00 ISO Standards for use by the private mechanism (cont.)
sector – a tool to improve market access ∙ Group work › Hema Menon › Hema Menon 15:00-15:30 17:00 Tea/coffee break End of day 3 15:30-17:00 ISO Standards for use by the private sector – a tool to improve market access NOTE : Order of topics, times and speakers are subject to change › Hema Menon 17:00 End of day 3 Aaron Brice Hon.
Thomas Desmond Ban Currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Bahamas Bureau of Standards & Quality, Aaron Brice is founder, owner and chief executive officer of Epic Battery & Tire Limited, which operates from locations on the islands of New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco.

In pursuit of the highest quality of products and service he has traveled to factories and smelters in China, The United States, El Salvador and Venezuela.
included marketing and His work experiences have broadcasting with Bahamas Broadcasting Corporation; engagement with Bahamas Oil Refinery as Oil Operator, involved in Fractionation/Refining & Testing.

He also spent time at Pannell Kerr Forster Chartered Accountants as an Audit Junior.

Highly active in community development, Aaron Brice is a member of the Bahamas China Friendship Association and the Bahamas Light Industry Development Council.
He is a former Board Member of the Price Control Commission and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce.

Hema Menon HEMA MENON is Trade Training Officer at the International Trade Centre (ITC) with more than 20 years of experience in trade development.

She has a Masters’ degree in Arts and Bachelors’ degree in Botany from the University of Delhi, India.
Her present work in Export Quality Management involves designing and implementing interactive training programmes related to quality, standards, technical regulations, food safety and hygiene measures within different ITC projects.
As part of her work, she has led the development and publication of numerous tools, guides and sensitization materials intended to demystify technically complex areas, in order to reinforce trade support institution (TSIs) to assist small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in meeting technical requirements in foreign markets.

Lauro Locks LAURO LOCKS has been working at the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO), located in Geneva, Switzerland, since 2002.
He is currently Counsellor at the WTO’s Trade and Environment Division, where he provides legal and policy assistance mainly with respect to matters related to the TBT Agreement – the WTO Agreement disciplining technical barriers to trade (product standards and technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures).
His work includes assisting the TBT Committee (the WTO body in charge of administering the TBT Agreement), liaising 2 | NATIONAL FORUM 2019 SPEAKERS with WTO members’ governments and agencies as well as other IGOs and stakeholders on TBT related matters.

He also assists WTO “panels” (adjudicators) in charge of disputes involving TBT matters.
Previously, Mr. Locks was Counsellor at the WTO’s Legal Affairs Division, where he provided legal advice in the context of trade disputes about measures covering various matters, such as technical barriers, tariff classification, or intellectual property (trademarks, geographical indications).

He was also Counsellor at the WTO’s Intellectual Property Division.

Mr. Locks, a dual Brazilian-Swiss citizen, earned a Bachelor of laws degree (LL.B.)
from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (M.A.L.D.)

from the Fletcher School of Tufts University, Boston, USA, and a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.)

in intellectual property law from the George Washington University’s Law School, Washington, DC, USA.

After completing his LL.B., Mr. Locks served for five and a half years as a senior legal officer at the Santa Catarina State High Court in Brazil.
Mr. Locks was subsequently an associate attorney at an intellectual property law firm in Rio de Janeiro, and later an International Trade Advisor at a law firm in Washington, DC.

Gergana Kiskinova GERGANA KISKINOVA is a Project Officer in the Trade and Environment Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Her main responsibility is to manage the SPS/TBT notification alert system ePing, which assists a broad range of stakeholders to keep track of evolving product requirements in export markets.
She has been involved in the formulation of enhancements to the ePing system as well as in technical assistance and promotion activities.

She has also delivered training on ePing as part of capacity building programmes run by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
Prior to joining the WTO, she worked in the Corporate Affairs department of Pernod Ricard Asia, Hong Kong where her tasks involved monitoring of regulatory developments affecting alcohol products, food safety, consumer protection including through TBT and SPS notifications.

Gergana is fluent in French, English, Bulgarian and Russian.
Dr. Renae L. Bufford, Ph.D. Dr. Renae L. Bufford, Ph.D. Dr. Renae L. Bufford has been the Director of Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ) since its inception in 2013.

Charged with the responsibility of developing this vital national agency, she guided the Bureau through its embryonic stages, resulting in 2016 in the official launch of its national quality infrastructure services in standards, metrology and conformity assessments.
During the past five years, the BBSQ has grown tremendously under her leadership.

She is a visionary, whose passion, dedication and commitment have contributed to The Bahamas’ emergence as a key regional participant.

Dr. Bufford has forged important partnerships at both the regional and international levels.

In October 2017, she 3 | NATIONAL FORUM 2019 was elected Council Chairperson of the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).
As the BBSQ Director and CROSQ Chair, Dr. Bufford is determined to continue to use her passion and drive to promote the significance of the international Quality Infrastructure agenda and to position The Bahamas to continue its involvement in a meaningful way.

Zhivargo Laing ZHIVARGO LAING Chief Negotiator for the Bahamas Accession to the World Trade Organization Zhivargo Laing is a Bahamian business consultant, and a director on the board of a number of companies, including Caystone Solutions Ltd.
In September 2018, the Government of The Bahamas appointed him to lead the country’s negotiation team for accession to World Trade Organization (WTO) membership.

Additionally, he leads the Government and Public Policy Institute at the University of the Bahamas Mr Laing is a former Minister of Economic Development and Minister of Finance in The Bahamas.
During his tenure, he led the government’s policy efforts in the areas of financial services, international trade, foreign investment and e-government development for some ten years.
During the Great Recession of 2008, he was responsible for leading the country’s fiscal stimulus programme, developing the country’s 24/7 E-government platform, laying the foundation for the country’s small and medium size business development legislation, and re-engineering the country’s business license and fiscal reform regime.

Mr Laing’s work with the Bahamas Financial Services Board help to craft the country’s strategic direction for the industry.
He was also the lead policy negotiator on the country’s response to a number of international regulatory developments impacting the financial services sector.

As an expert on the Bahamian economy, government operations and conducting business within The Bahamas, Zhivargo now provides international investors with advice and logistical support for investing in The Bahamas.
He hosts Z Live: Off The Record with Zhivargo Laing, which airs daily on Guardian Radio, 96.9FM and has authored several books, including College, Career and Money – A Guide for Teens and Young Adults (with David Burrows) and Who Moved My Conch – Understanding Free Trade Agreements.
A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with graduate studies at The George Washington University and the Robert Kennedy College/University of Cumbria School of Business, Zhivargo Laing’s training is in economics, finance, business and leadership.

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