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Challenges
& Opportunities |
 Globalisation,
or the increased interconnectedness of
countries, presents significant opportunities and challenges for
all nations worldwide. While globalisation has brought many
benefits in terms of increasing trade and investment, countries have
also had to face some difficult adjustment costs. Caribbean and other small
countries share a number of characteristics that pose special challenges
as they integrate into the international economic system. Several comprehensive
studies on the challenges and opportunities for Caribbean countries in
globalisation have been conducted. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the
World Bank Joint Task Force on Small States' report,
"Small
States: Meeting Challenges in the Global Economy,"
presents a good introduction to the implications of small-size economies
as well as a general overview of the main challenges and opportunities
that lie ahead. These issues are also addressed in
"Caribbean
Perspectives on Trade, Regional Integration and a Strategic Global
Repositioning,"
a research paper presented to the Caribbean Group for Cooperation in Economic
Development (CGCED).
This section of the Caribbean Trade Resource Centre includes information on the challenges presented by
increasingly complex multilateral and regional trade negotiations, eroding preferences, the
regional integration initiative under the CSM&E, as well as the impact that
"small-size" has on
trade and economic integration.
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Unilateral Preferences:
Erosion and Expiration |
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Preferential Schemes |
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Since the late 1960s, unilateral
preferential schemes, such as the
Caribbean
Basin Initiative (CBI),
CARIBCAN,
the
Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), and
the
Lomé Convention and
Cotonou Agreement preferences have provided reduced or zero tariff
rates over the most favoured nation (MFN) rates for certain products originating
from the Caribbean and other developing countries .
Preferential agreements, however, are
evolving to include reciprocal trade
obligations. Additionally, liberalisation at the
multilateral level, through WTO negotiating
rounds, as well as through regional trade
agreements, threatens to erode the value of
preferential access. Trade
preference dependent countries are
increasingly challenged to enhance their
competitiveness in order to still benefit under a more liberalised multilateral trading system.
Articles
on the Erosion of Preferences
Preference-Dependent Economies &
Multilateral Liberalisation: Impact and Options
Commonwealth Secretariat
Trade Preferences for
LDCs: An Early Assessment of Benefits and
Possible Improvements.
UNCTAD
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Generalised
System of Preferences |
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Caribbean
Basin Initiative |
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CARIBCAN |
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Lomé & Cotonou |
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Cotonou |
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Cotonou Agreement |
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EU-ACP Negotiations |
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Explanation of the
current trade provisions of the Cotonou
Agreement.
CTDS
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Repas or Rip-Off?: A
Critical Review of the COTONOU Agreement.
Pantin, D and Hosein,
R
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Issues and Options in
the Negotiation of ACP-EU EPAs.
Dr. Anthony Gonzales
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Focus on the
Americas |
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Efforts at
closer economic integration with Latin American
countries began in
the early 1990s as CARICOM countries
explored alternatives to traditional trade
relationships based on eroding preferences.
In the early stages, CARICOM reached trade
agreements with Colombia and Venezuela—agreements that were to begin as
preferential agreements that gradually evolved
towards reciprocity—and
participated in the creation of the
Association of the Caribbean States (ACS).
In
the second half of the 1990s, CARICOM fully
engaged itself in trade talks with
other hemispheric partners. In their 16th
meeting,
held in Guyana in July 1995,
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Trade and Integration
in the Caribbean - Philippe Egoumé-Bossogo and Chandima Mendis |
the CARICOM Heads of
Government agreed to give priority to negotiating trade
agreements with Latin American countries. CARICOM subsequently negotiated
bilateral free trade agreements with the Dominican Republic
(1998), Cuba (2000), and Costa Rica (2004), while actively participating in the hemispheric
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process. As
a result, CARICOM's
trade with its hemispheric partners
has significantly increased during the 1990s.
Today, CARICOM
is still actively engaged in its hemispheric
agenda, negotiating bilateral free trade
agreements
with Canada and MERCOSUR, as well as
continuing to engage in the FTAA
process.
Relevant Articles
The Integration of
Small Economies in the Free Trade Area of
the Americas.
Amb.
Richard Bernal
Recent Trends in
CARICOM Trade Relations: An Analysis with
Special Attention to the Western Hemisphere.
OECS Trade Policy Brief #14. OECS
Secretariat
Divergent International Perspectives on the Caribbean: The Interaction Between
the Ongoing Caribbean, U.S., and European Adaptations to the New Global Economy.
1998. Clissold, G.
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Ongoing
Negotiations |
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The FTAA |
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CARICOM - Canada |
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CARICOM - MERCOSUR |
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Trade
Agreements |
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CARICOM - Colombia |
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CARICOM - Costa Rica |
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CARICOM - Cuba
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CARICOM - Dominican
Republic |
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CARICOM
- Venezuela |
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Association of Caribbean States |
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Convention
Establishing the ACS |
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Principal Trade
Trends, Trade Policy and Integration
Agreements of the Countries of the ACS.
ACS Secretariat |
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Special
Treatment in the FTAA |
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Mechanisms and
Measures to Facilitate the Participation of
Smaller Economies in the FTAA: An Update. OAS
Trade Unit |
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The Doha Round |
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In
November 2001, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, trade
ministers agreed on the mandate for negotiations on a range of trade
related subjects.
Negotiations on
agriculture and
services began in
early 2000. The
declaration established January 2005 as the date for
completing all but two of the negotiations.
A number of other issues have
now been added. A work programme known as
the "July Package"
was introduced in August
2004, that includes
discussions of the
topics of
agriculture,
non-agricultural
market access, trade
facilitation and
development issues. 
