CARICOM is about to commence negotiation of the CARICOM/Canada Trade andDevelopment Agreement, and as a key member of the regional grouping, Trinidad and Tobago is an integral part of the negotiation process. In fact, in early June, this country hosted the first Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting to discuss the upcoming negotiations. The session saw technical officers with expertise in negotiations join their counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Draft Negotiating Brief for Canada. Technocrats came from five CARICOM Member States, regional organizations such as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and the CARICOM Secretariat.
In negotiating this agreement, Trinidad and Tobago’s main objective is to create a secure and predictable trade environment that favours domestic exports of goods and services from Trinidad and Tobago into Canada.
Currently, trade between CARICOM countries and Canada is governed by the CARIBCAN Agreement. CARIBCAN allows goods from CARICOM countries to be exported into Canada on a non reciprocal basis and that agreement has recently been extended at the World Trade Organization (WTO) until 2011.
The Agreement is expected to cover a range of areas such as Market Access for Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Goods, Investment, Services, E-Commerce, Trade Facilitation, etc. One of CARICOM’s main areas of focus will be asymmetrical obligations in favour of its Member States and development cooperation, which will include technical and financial assistance to assist adjustment to liberalization.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry will be consulting various groups from business, the State sector, NGOs and civil society for their input on the proposed agreement and is also inviting comments, queries and suggestions from members of the public at large.
CARICOM-Canada Trade Negotiations
Trinidad and Tobago as part of CARICOM is currently engaged in negotiations of a CARICOM- Canada Trade and Development Agreement. This is due to the eminent expiration of the World Trade Organization (WTO) waiver (approval) of the CARIBCAN (one-way preferential arrangement) on 31 December 2011.
The CARIBCAN Arrangement permits the Government of Canada to provide duty free imports of eligible products from Commonwealth Caribbean countries without being required to extend the same duty free treatment to like products of any other contracting party.
The main objective of Trinidad and Tobago’s participation in the negotiations of the proposed agreement is to further the national trade development agenda by providing a more secure and predictable market access for locally produced goods exported to Canada; expand the agreement to include trade in services and investment; provide for the settlement of disputes; and solidify development support and funding for the adjustment to liberalization.
To date, CARICOM and Canada have been engaged in two (2) negotiating rounds from November 10 -12, 2009 and March 28 -31, 2010 in Barbados. The discussions so far have covered all the 4 Negotiating Groups on:
- Market Access/Trade in Goods (including Agriculture and Rum)
- Services (including Culture) and Investment
- Institutional Issues and Dispute Settlement (including Development Cooperation)
- Trade Related Issues (Competition Policy, Government Procurement, Intellectual Property and Innovation).