CARICOM-Canada Trade Negotiations

In July 2004, CARICOM Heads of Government granted a negotiating mandate to the CRNM to proceed with preparation and commencement of formal negotiations with Canada.

In order to prepare for market access negotiations with Canada, the CRNM is organizing a consultation with the private sector in CARICOM. If you have a substantive interest in the Canadian market, or if you do business with Canada and face barriers you should be part of this consultation.

The Caribbean has a long history of trade and cultural ties with Canada. A 2001 survey revealed that there were more than 530,000 people of Caribbean origin living in Canada compared to 256,000 from the whole of Latin America. In 2002, two-way merchandise trade between CARICOM and Canada totalled C$1.2 billion of which there was a positive balance in CARICOM’s favour of C$335 million. In 2000, bilateral services trade between CARICOM and Canada amounted to C$2.28 billion with a CARICOM surplus of C$703 million. 

Trade and economic co-operation between some CARICOM States and Canada are currently covered under a number of instruments:  CARIBCAN, a non-reciprocal preferential agreement granted by Canada for goods; the 1979 CARICOM-Canada Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement and its Protocols, including the 1998 Protocol on Rum; and Bilateral Investment Treaties with Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

CARIBCAN’s relative preferential value has been reduced since it was first introduced in 1986 due to progressive market liberalization by Canada as a result of negotiations and/or unilateral initiatives.  In addition, CARIBCAN’s coverage is limited to trade in goods and does not extend to trade in services, which accounts for a growing proportion of CARICOM-Canada trade, in particular for Jamaica, the Bahamas and Barbados.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Canadian government has signalled its unwillingness to seek a further renewal of the WTO waiver for CARIBCAN when it expires in 2006.

CARICOM’s objectives in an enhanced trade arrangement with Canada are to: (i) preserve, build on and broaden the scope of the current instruments of trade and economic co-operation; (ii) where possible, to deepen disciplines to improve market access for CARICOM exports of goods and services; (iii) to broaden the country coverage to include all CARICOM states; (iv) to stimulate increased flows of Canadian investment into the region; and (v) to provide a comprehensive framework for development co-operation initiatives.

Download Registration Form,  Draft Agenda and Background Documents.