Cabinet has approved a reactivation of the trade compensation mechanism, up to a value of US $4m, under bilateral arrangements in place with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The PetroCaribe Agreement provides that loan repayments to Venezuela may be made by way of goods and services, valued at preferential rates under the Trade Compensation Mechanism. This is to promote the exchange of goods and services and to build domestic production capacity and trade relations.

The arrangement will be coordinated through the Petrocaribe Development Fund which will facilitate the commercial transactions between Jamaican and Venezuelan businesses for the supply of priority products produced in Jamaica and desired by the Venezuelan market.

The details will be worked out in further discussions between the parties, with a projected activation in the last quarter of 2016.