Agriculture in International Trade Agreements (AITA) – 3rd Special Edition for CARICOM

11/06/2025

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are jointly proposing this virtual course entitled "Agriculture in International Trade Agreements (AITA)”, which combines online content that can be self-managed by each student, complemented by live webinars on broad conceptual frameworks and approaches to understanding and addressing international agreements on agriculture and international agrifood trade in the Caribbean.

This course informs the treatment of agriculture in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) and aims to support policy makers to develop and implement appropriate agricultural development and food security strategies.

REGISTER HERE!

Course overview

Name: Agriculture in International Trade Agreements (AITA) 3rd Special Edition for CARICOM

Code: AITAEN-202506

Language: English

Type: Online course

Length: 20 chronological hours to be taken in 4 weeks (4 to 5 hours per week) From 11-06-2025 to 09-07-2025

Modality and Methodology:

The strategy used in this virtual course is to share knowledge and exchange experiences. It is delivered fully online, with approximately 80% of asynchronous virtual activities and 20% in synchronous format. The estimated time to learn is about 4 to 5 hours per week. It is highly recommended to log in the course at least three times a week and spend at least 60 minutes per day.

The methodology selected for this virtual course contains three types of activities:

• Self-paced modules, with asynchronous modality: It includes two online learning modules. These modules are developed through self-learning. It is the participant's responsibility to build his/her own knowledge. The course is divided into units that allow participants to explore the content sequentially, i.e., once a topic has been completely reviewed, it is possible to access the next one. The content will be delivered fully online, combining self-paced learning.
• Webinars: Three webinar sessions and a forum for interaction among participants. The objective of these sessions is to strengthen the exchange of experiences. The webinars include keynote presentations from experts from FAO, CARICOM Secretariat and other partner institutions.
• Discussion board: A discussion board will be open to share experiences and reflections among participants during the course's 4 weeks.

Audience:

• Government officials and public servants who are involved in the implementation of trade-related public programs, initiatives, negotiations.
• Representatives of the private sector and academia.
• Representatives of international organizations and NGOs.

General objective:

To provide tools that will enable participants to acquire and/or deepen their knowledge of international trade, and the main trade policy instruments related to agricultural trade for the Caribbean.

Specific objectives:

• To strengthen capacities for analyzing the international economic situation and policies related to international trade.
• To understand the different trade policy instruments, the functioning of the multilateral trade system and the development of mega trade agreements and the implications for the agricultural sector.
• To become familiar with new international trade issues, especially those related to agriculture that impact the Caribbean.

Contents:

• Unit 1. World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)
• Webinar 1. Course Presentation and opening remarks. Keynote presentations on the relevance of the WTO for agri-food trade.
• Unit 2. Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) in agriculture and related WTO agreements
• Webinar 2. How non-tariff barriers affect trade
• Unit 3. Agriculture in Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
• Webinar 3. Opportunities and Challenges: For the Caribbean integration process

Course schedule:

Download here.

Better to which it belongs: BN5: Transparent market and trade

Supervising Officers:

• Pablo Rabczuk, FAO
  
• Shaun Baugh, CARICOM Secretariat