Trade Promotion and Development
The Division is responsible for coordinating Trinidad and Tobago's participation in all trade fora in order to ensure that they are compatible with national policy to achieve export led growth, and increase investment flows into Trinidad and Tobago. The areas under the purview of the division are: WTO, FTAA, ACP-EU, CARICOM and Bilateral Negotiations. Trinidad & Tobago's trade initiatives continue to be pursued in a context that recognizes both regional and bilateral trade agreements as complementary to agreements at the multilateral forum. It is in this regard, that Trinidad & Tobago has been an active member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and has increasingly sought expanded market access with third countries through the regional grouping. We believe that this process fosters the gradual integration of the Region into the global economy.
CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)
Trinidad and Tobago plays a leading role in the deepening of the integration process through the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). The CARICOM Single Market and Economy can best be described by reference to its two broad components: The Single Market: An arrangement which allows CARICOM goods, services, people and capital to move throughout the Caribbean Community without tariffs/barriers and without restrictions so as to achieve a single economic space, and to provide for one economic and trade policy for all CARICOM states. The Single Economy: An arrangement in which foreign exchange and interest rate policies, tax regimes, laws and common currency, among other things, are coordinated and harmonized. The CSME will be a regional trade bloc that will help provide a frame-work for sustaining the vulnerable economies of some 14 million inhabitants. It is intended therefore to strengthen the Region's negotiating capacity and allow for a more beneficial participation in the global economy. One of the major objectives of forming the Single Market is to maximize regional productive capabilities in order to successfully penetrate external markets. This strategy is consistent with Trinidad and Tobago's aggressive export oriented thrust. To Top Bilateral Trade Agreements
In the context of the external trade arrangements, there have been bilateral agreements between CARICOM and Venezuela (1993) CARICOM and Colombia (1994) CARICOM and the Dominican Republic (1998) CARICOM and Cuba (2000) and CARICOM and Costa Rica (2004)
The agreements with the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica are Free Trade Agreements with built-in agendas towards the completion of outstanding disciplines. The agreement with Venezuela is currently a one-way preferential agreement, whilst the remaining reciprocal agreements (with Colombia and Cuba) are currently more limited in scope. Trinidad & Tobago considers participation in these agreements to be a useful developmental step towards the effective and beneficial participation of domestic firms in the multilateral system. Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Trinidad & Tobago has participated in the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which is intended to enhance regional cooperation and integration in such areas as trade, transport and tourism. The ACS has facilitated the harmonization of common positions for wider trade agreements with particular reference to smaller economies. Trinidad & Tobago continues to participate in the various ACS entities with a view to enhancing regional cooperation in the areas identified. Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) The FTAA came into existence in an effort to unite the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade area. The process began at the Summit of the Americas, held in December 1994 in Miami. On that occasion, the Heads of State and Government of the 34 democracies in the region agreed to construct a Free Trade Area of the Americas, in which barriers to trade and investment will be progressively eliminated. The actual negotiations are being undertaken in nine negotiating groups which have been mandated to prepare the draft chapters of the agreement. These include: Market Access, Agriculture, Investment, Services, Government Procurement, Competition Policy, Intellectual Property Rights Dispute Settlement. and Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties. Trinidad and Tobago negotiates as a member of the CARICOM group under the coordination of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM). To Top ACP-EU Negotiations
The ACP-EU Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), known as the Cotonou Agreement, was signed on June 23, 2000 in Benin, Cotonou. This Agreement replaces the former Lomé Agreement which was one way preferential trade agreement. The Agreement is based on five (5) inter-dependent pillars namely, a political dimension, the promotion of a participatory approach, a strengthened focus on poverty reduction, a new framework for economic and trade cooperation and a reform of financial cooperation. Although the Agreement places emphasis on poverty eradication and sustainable development, it focuses to a large extent on trade in goods.
The Agreement stipulates a specific plan of action for establishing reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and ACP States. Negotiations for determining the framework of these EPAs were concluded on September 27 2002. The EU obtained a waiver from the WTO in order to continue to operate the one-way preferential scheme of Lomé until December 31, 2007. Currently, Trinidad & Tobago's exports are afforded preferential access to the EU market. This arrangement is expected to continue until the beginning of 2008 when new terms for Trinidad & Tobago's exports will enter into force. In keeping with the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement, such terms are currently being negotiated under the 1CARIFORUM -European Union EPA negotiations. It is envisaged that an EPA with the EU will create new trade opportunities, strengthen regional integration and improve trade capacity and competitiveness. To Top World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO is the international organization, which administers the global rules of trade. Its main function is to ensure that trade rules are predictable and transparent and that there is a free flow of trade in goods and services. The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which was established in 1947. The Multilateral Trading framework was developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds, held under GATT. The first round dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The last round (the 1986-94 Uruguay Round) led to the creation of the WTO. In February 1997, agreement was reached on telecommunications services, with 69 governments agreeing to wide-ranging liberalization measures that went beyond those agreed in the Uruguay Round. In the same year, 40 governments successfully concluded negotiations for tariff-free trade in information technology products, and 70 members concluded a financial services deal covering more than 95% of trade in banking, insurance, securities and financial information. In 2000, new talks started on agriculture and services. These issues have now been incorporated into a broader agenda launched during the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The post Doha agenda added negotiations and other work on non-agricultural tariffs, trade and environment, WTO rules such as anti-dumping and subsidies, investment, competition policy, trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement, intellectual property, and a range of issues raised by developing countries. The VI Ministerial Conference of the WTO is scheduled to be held during the period December 13-18, 2005 in Hong Kong, China.
1CARIFORUM covers the alliance between CARICOM countries and the Dominican Republic To Top | 
