Canada-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Free Trade Negotiations

CARICOM is an established trade and investment partner for Canada, with commercial relations rooted in history, dating back to pre-confederation. A free trade agreement (FTA) with CARICOM would further strengthen Canada’s commercial ties with these longstanding regional partners and contribute to the shared goal of facilitating development through economic integration within the Western Hemisphere. An FTA would also support Canada’s broader foreign policy and development objectives of deepening our engagement in the Americas and provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation on such issues as labour and the environment. As stated in the Government’s economic plan, Advantage Canada, it is in Canada’s national interest to be open to free trade opportunities and help Canadian business compete in global markets.

CARICOM Members are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Update

On October 18 2007, Canadian and CARICOM chief negotiators held the inaugural meeting of the Canada-CARICOM free trade negotiations.

Background

The Right Honourable Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced, on July 19, 2007, the launch of negotiations towards an FTA between Canada and the Caribbean Community member countries. (See News Release and Backgrounder – July 19, 2007)

Discussions towards the negotiation of a possible Canada-CARICOM free trade agreement were announced at the Canada-CARICOM Summit on January 19, 2001, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Following this announcement, Canadian and CARICOM officials held four exploratory talks to identify issues that could be pursued in a possible future negotiation. The latest exploratory meeting was held in March 2005 in Barbados.

As a part of these discussions, extensive domestic consultations were launched in 2001 with business, citizen-based organizations and individual Canadians, as well as with the provincial and territorial governments, to obtain views on the possibility of an FTA between Canada and CARICOM. (For more information on the public consultation, see the News Release and the Canada Gazette Notice of December 15, 2001 - PDF, please refer to pg 6.) In December 2007, the government launched further consultations on the Canada-CARICOM FTA negotiations as it relates to market access for goods, services and investment. (For more information on these public consultations, see Consultations.)

The closing date for this consultation process was January 15, 2008. The Government of Canada, however, continues to welcome views from the public in regards to this initiative.

CARICOM is an established market for Canadian goods, services and investors. In 2006, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and CARICOM countries amounted to $1.8 billion. Canadian merchandise exports to the CARICOM totalled $669.2 million and include newsprint, dried or salted fish, pharmaceutical products, copper wire, electrical apparatus for telephones, transmission apparatus, doors and windows, and iron ores. Merchandise imports from CARICOM totalled $1.13 billion and include natural resource products such as gold, aluminum oxide, methanol, non-crude oil and iron ores as well as fertilizers, liquors, fish products, and fruits and vegetables. In 2004, the latest year for which data is available, Canadian services exports were $1.5 billion, primarily in commercial services, while imports amounted to $2.3 billion, mostly for commercial and travel services. In 2006, the stock of Canadian direct investment in, or transhipped through, the CARICOM market registered at $52.95 billion, an increase of 52% since 2001. CARICOM investment into Canada increased by 65% since 2001, reaching a level of $760 million in 2006.

A bilateral free trade agreement with CARICOM could deliver commercial benefits across many sectors of the Canadian economy, including industrial goods (e.g. pharmaceuticals, products of base metals such as iron, steel, and copper, electrical equipment), agriculture (e.g. french fries, pork cuts, pulses), fish and seafood. In some of these sectors, CARICOM tariffs range from 5-60%. An FTA with CARICOM would also provide a more secure and predictable business environment for Canadian investment in CARICOM, and enhance market access for Canadian service providers (e.g. professional services, research and development).

Canada is committed to negotiating a modern trade agreement with CARICOM Members that will take into account differing levels of development, vulnerabilities associated with island states, and trade-related capacity challenges.

Negotiations will cover a wide range of issues, including trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures, trade facilitation, non-tariff barriers, cross-border trade in services, temporary entry, investment, government procurement, dispute settlement and institutional provisions. In keeping with Canada’s approach to FTA negotiations, Canada will also seek to address the social dimensions of economic integration through the negotiation of provisions on labour and environment.

Consultations

In keeping with the 2001 Framework for Conducting Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations, an Initial Environmental Assessment of the Canada-CARICOM FTA negotiations has been conducted to help negotiators to better integrate environmental considerations into the negotiating process.

• Consultations on the Initial Environmental Assessment Report

Contact Point

If you have questions or comments about this initiative we would like to hear from you. Please contact Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada at:

Regional Trade Policy Division (TBB)
Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 promenade Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2
Fax: 613-944-3489
E-mail: consultations@international.gc.ca

Other Interesting Links

• Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada's Latin America and the Caribbean Website (Caribbean Section)
• The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
• The Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery
• Canadian International Development Agency
• Inter-American Development Bank
• Organization of American States
• World Trade Organization