BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JULY 20TH 2010 (CUOPM Press Release) - The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will intensify the national consultations on the CARICOM-Canada trade negotiations this week.
The national consultation process will be continued on 19-20 July, 2010 in Antigua and Barbuda and on 22nd and 23rd July, 2010 in St. Kitts and Nevis through the convening of meetings which will be facilitated by the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), in collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Secretariat.
Ambassador Gail Mathurin, Director General of the OTN, as well as technical officials from the OTN, the OECS Secretariat and the governments of St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda, will guide the discussions. The agenda will include in-depth discussion on the proposed Agreement, with a focus on CARICOM’s and Canada’s negotiating proposals and draft text.
National consultations will also be convened in Dominica on 29th and 30th July 2010. The primary purpose of these consultations will be to increase the awareness of stakeholders from the private and public sectors about the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement and to seek stakeholder input into the development of regional negotiating positions.
The OECS Secretariat, with the support of the Commonwealth Hubs and Spokes Project has already undertaken work in the preparation of initial offers initial offers or individual OECS countries and a draft OECS harmonized services schedule. It is anticipated that the results from these meetings, as well as the results of other ongoing national consultation initiatives taking place across the region, will be used to help refine CARICOM’s negotiating proposals and draft text.
In addition to the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITS) which some CARICOM member states have with Canada, as a group, CARICOM’s current trade and economic relations with Canada are governed by the 1979 CARICOM-Canada Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement and its Protocols, including the CARICOM-Canada 1998 Protocol on Rum, and the CARIBCAN Agreement, which is a non-reciprocal preferential trade agreement that grants unilateral duty free access to eligible goods from beneficiary countries in the English-speaking Caribbean.
As a non-reciprocal unilateral preferential arrangement, CARIBCAN is incompatible with WTO rules and therefore requires a WTO waiver. That waiver is scheduled to expire in 2011.
On the other hand, the Trade and Development Agreement between CARICOM and Canada will be compatible with WTO rules and will not require a waiver. Furthermore, it is anticipated that this agreement will provide CARICOM with broader and better preferential access to the Canadian market. While CARIBCAN provides duty-free access for a range of CARICOM goods, it does not include services, which is becoming an increasingly important and valuable productive sector within CARICOM.
