Industry Ministry Relaunches Trade Facilitation Working Group

The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, through the Trade Facilitation Project Management Office, has relaunched the Jamaica Trade Facilitation Working Group (JTFWG).

The event, which was held on Wednesday, July 1, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston, marks the Ministry’s transition from the Trade Facilitation Task Force, established in 2015, to the Jamaica Trade Facilitation Working Group (JTFWG), reflecting a renewed commitment to strengthening public-private sector collaboration and advancing Jamaica’s trade facilitation agenda.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, who delivered the keynote address, said Jamaica is well positioned to become a major player in global trade.

“Jamaica sits at the intersection of the world’s busiest east-west and north-south shipping lanes. Kingston Harbour is the seventh largest natural harbour in the world. The Port of Kingston now ranks among the top-100 ports globally with cargo volumes up more than 50 per cent since 2017,” he said.

“Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has said that Jamaica’s mission is to become the fourth node in the global logistics network alongside Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam,” Senator Hill said.

The Minister noted that the Westlands Expansion Project to expand Kingston Freeport terminal at the Caymanas Special Economic Zone – the largest in the English-speaking Caribbean – will bring manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and technology services together in one integrated corridor.

“That should lend to greater efficiency. Geography and infrastructure are only potential. What converts potential into prosperity is the quality, efficiency, speed and predictability of the system through which goods and services move across our borders. That system has gaps we can no longer afford to leave open,” he said.

Mr. Hill said in February 2015, the Ministry established the Trade Facilitation Task Force. It was charged with mapping and driving implementation of key facilitation measures under the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade facilitation agreement.

“Eleven years later, Jamaica’s implementation rate stands at 88.27 per cent – one of the highest in CARICOM – supported by the World Bank Group/United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and funded through the Foundation of Competitiveness and Growth Project. That is good progress but more needs to be done. We have strengthened border management systems, improved regulatory frameworks, advanced legislative reforms and made the movement of goods more efficient,” Senator Hill said.

Since 2018, importers and exporters now submit all regulatory requirements through a single electronic window. In 2025 alone, the system issued 72,445 permits – a 37 per cent increase over 2024.

As the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism enters its full operational phase in 2026, and digital trade rules are renegotiated at the World Trade Organization, Minister Hill said Jamaica must be ready to meet these realities.

“That is why the upgrade from Task Force to the JTFWG is a necessary structural decision. It signals that trade facilitation is a standing national priority with a permanent institutional home, a public-private mandate and a clear working programme for the next three years,” he said.

The relaunched JTFWG will bring together senior representatives from government, the private sector and development partners to strengthen coordination, address trade-related bottlenecks, and accelerate the implementation of reforms that improve the ease of doing business and enhance Jamaica’s competitiveness.