In the past decade much has been said and written concerning the various ways in which tissue culture technology may contribute to agricultural production and crop diversification within the Caribbean. There have been successes, but in many respects, the true potential of this technology still remains untapped. The present paper briefly restates the rationale behind the use of tissue culture and examines the experience of the CARDI laboratory in Barbados. The case is put that, should countries within the region wish to benefit from the increasing availability of germplasm, resources should be allocated for the establishment of simple yet productive reception centres that are capable of handling tissue culture products imported from overseas.