As Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of CROSQ, Dr. Vyjayanthi (Vyju) Lopez has responsibility for facilitating the development of the trade and services sectors in the region; fostering increased cross border business within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) as well as the extra-regional export of goods and services, consumer protection and the development and implementation of Standards. She sits on the CROSQ Council which comprises the Chief Executives of the Bureaux of Standards across the region, to give guidance to the Council of Ministers for Trade and Economic Development and the Heads of the governments of the Member States of the CARICOM Region.
Dr. Lopez coordinates the positions of the private, public sectors and consumer interests in the Member States to ensure harmonised regional standards for goods and services. Her work at CROSQ directly relates to the implications of globalisation and the impact of those markets given the need for regional products to compete internationally, and includes the surmounting challenges associated with improving national products. In this regard, Dr. Lopez supports Member States to promote economic growth by facilitating trade in the region, through the development and harmonisation of standards, metrology and technical regulations as well as through the mutual recognition of uniformity assessment procedures covering goods and services produced in the Community.
Dr Lopez, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, holds a Ph.D. from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She brings to CROSQ more than 26 years of International experience: 10 years as Research Associate at ICRISAT1, India and 16 years at CABI-CLA2, Trinidad & Tobago, initially as Laboratory/Project Manager and later as Regional Coordinator. While at CABI-CLA, she designed and implemented a range of innovative research and development projects in the Caribbean and Central America, many of which routinely involved the application of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). Dr Lopez was also part of a global team that executed a two-year IDRC3-funded project: this analyzed stakeholder participation in the knowledge systems associated with development and implementation of ISPMs, and highlighted the need for harmonization at national and regional levels vis-à-vis requirements under the WTO-SPS4 Agreement.
Dr Lopez has served as a resource person at several conferences/workshops and as a member of national and regional committees on plant health management. She has provided consultancy services to regional projects sponsored by the FAO5 and EU6, and has developed proposals for funding by UNDP7, UNEP8 and GEF9.
Several of the projects that Dr Lopez implemented, involved institutional strengthening and capacity building, facilitation of small group communications, liaison with national/regional/global agencies, use of participatory approaches for stakeholder involvement, and networking of information and knowledge. As the Executive Secretary, Dr Lopez plans to use her experience in carrying out CROSQ’s mandate: to harmonise and implement standards, to facilitate international competitiveness, and to increase regional and international trade; for the sustainable production of goods and services in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and the enhancement of social and economic development.
Last Updated: 20 March 2008