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1. Trinidad and Tobago Adopted the CARICOM Common External Tariff (CET) on 1 January 1991

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1. Trinidad and Tobago Adopted the CARICOM Common External Tariff (CET) on 1 January 1991 Trinidad and Tobago WT/TPR/S/49 Page 31 III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE (1) OVERVIEW 1. Trinidad and Tobago adopted the CARICOM Common External Tariff (CET) on 1 January 1991. Trade between CARICOM Members is duty free. Since the implementation of the CET, the maximum external tariff for industrial goods (with the exception of products for which minimum rates have been agreed within the CARICOM) has been lowered from 35% to 20%. The average 1998 applied MFN tariff has been calculated as 9.1%. The vast majority of customs duties are ad valorem rates: there are no seasonal tariffs or alternate duties; only a few specific duties apply. 2. During the Uruguay Round, with the exception of seven items bound at higher levels, Trinidad and Tobago bound all of its tariffs on agricultural goods at 100% ceiling bindings; under the CET, maximum agricultural tariffs are 40%. Most industrial products have been bound at 50%, with certain exceptions where items are bound at 70%. Trinidad and Tobago's Schedule of Concessions includes a binding of 15% with respect to "other duties and charges". 3. Import surcharges, which replaced quantitative restrictions in 1990, still apply to a handful of products: e.g. poultry, sugar and assorted fruits and vegetables. For some products they will be eliminated in 1999, for others they will continue to apply. Excise duties on beer and wine are levied at apparently higher rates on third-country imports. 4. Livestock, meat, fish, sugar, oils and fats, motor vehicles, cigarette papers and small ships and boats are subject to import licensing. A Negative List containing all products which were subject to quantitative restrictions still exists but it has been constantly reduced. In 1997, it included only livestock, meat, fish, sugar, oils and fats, motor vehicles, cigarette papers and small ships and boats. Sugar was removed from the Negative List in June 1992 but, along with school books and pharmaceuticals, is still subject to price control. Although there are some de facto monopolies in both goods and services trade, the State has liquidated or sold off much of its stake in productive activities. 5. Trinidad and Tobago applies no export taxes, no direct subsidies and no export performance requirements. An export allowance in the form of a tax credit is granted to companies exporting processed or manufactured products (excluding petrochemicals and certain other products) to non- CARICOM markets. The tax credit covers the profits on the proportion of export sales to total sales so that profits on exports are effectively tax exempt.1 Other forms of export promotion to extra- regional markets include assistance on a 50/50 cost-sharing basis to eligible exporters to assist them with the cost of entering and competing in export markets. Local tax law also allows for a deduction of 150% of expenses incurred in promoting the expansion into non-CARICOM markets. 6. There are many different kinds of incentives directed at both foreign and local investment ranging from duty concessions, tax exemptions, loss write-offs, training subsidies and export allowances to free-zone incentives for companies exporting a majority (80%) of their production. Under the Fiscal Incentives Act (1979), a tax holiday for a period of up to ten years may be granted at the discretion of the Minister or the President for the manufacture of approved products by approved enterprises. Approved enterprises are classified according to the degree of local value added to be contributed to output; length of tax holidays are granted proportionately, e.g. a company manufacturing a product incorporating 50% or more local value added would be eligible for the maximum tax holiday period. 1According to the authorities, proposals have been made to remove the existing export allowance by the year 2000. WT/TPR/S/49 Trade Policies Review Page 32 7. Trinidad and Tobago has reviewed and updated several of its trade-related laws and policies to comply with its obligations under the WTO. Anti-dumping legislation has recently been amended and anti-dumping duties were levied in 1998 on imports of cheese. Domestic laws regarding intellectual property rights have been updated in order to bring existing legislation in line with the TRIPS Agreement. Legislation governing investment incentives is under scrutiny, a competition law is before Parliament, environmental standards are under preparation and. (2) MEASURES AFFECTING IMPORTS (i) Customs regulations 8. Importers must operate through licensed customs brokers. These prepare the relevant documents for submission to the customs authorities: import declaration (C82), invoice, valuation form, certificate of origin where preference is being claimed and permits if required for health or security reasons. Customs introduced ASYCUDA, an electronic customs document processing system, in the last few years. Under this system, the importer is given a registration number to be used on documentation; the documents are then scanned by the ASYCUDA system and duties are determined accordingly. 9. The authorities state that it generally takes no more than three days to process an import entry; one day to process an export declaration. Roughly half of all merchandise is inspected at the port of entry. For perishables and emergency goods, importers may post a bond in advance and pay duties after delivery. Importers may appeal a customs decision at the station, further appeal to the Comptroller of Customs and Excise and, failing an agreement, may have recourse to the Tax Appeal Board. (ii) Rules of origin 10. New rules of origin for CARICOM were introduced in 1998. Duty-free treatment is accorded only if goods are shipped directly between member states. Pre-certification of origin is required with a verification process taking place at the importing end. Qualifying conditions may be "wholly produced" and "substantial transformation"; substantial transformation includes a change in tariff heading by the working or processing of extra-regional materials, manufacture in which certain prescribed materials of Common Market origin are used, or the achievement of a prescribed level of regional value added. Origin is based mainly on the use of prescribed regional raw materials, having shifted away from the value-added criterion in 1983, e.g. fruit juices, jams and jellies require the use of regionally produced fruit and sugar (Table III.1). Under a so-called "safeguard" mechanism, a manufacturer may use extra-regional materials when they cannot be found in CARICOM States; the Council may authorize a temporary derogation from the qualifying criterion. Trinidad and Tobago WT/TPR/S/49 Page 33 Table III. 1 CARICOM Rules of Origin Product Rules of origin A range of: Meat products Wholly produced Fish Vegetables (frozen, preserved or dried) Fruit (frozen, preserved or dried) and nuts Products of milling industry Oil seeds Vegetables materials (for plaiting, stuffing, etc.) Cocoa beans Sugar Molasses A range of: Oils Produced from regional materials Animal products Sugar confectionery Vegetable, fruit and nuts preparations Mineral waters Liqueurs and other spirituous beverages Vinegar Wood, wood products and carpentry work Wicker work Ceramic products Articles of cement Articles of plaster Articles of glass Jewellery, gold and silver in semi-manufactured forms Steel products A range of: Chemical products included in HS Chapters 28-39 Produced by chemical transformation A range of: Plastics products Non-regional material content must not exceed 10% of export price of finished product Articles of apparel, clothing, accessories and other articles of Produced from materials not included in HS 43.03 and not being furskin (HS 43.03) fur skins assembled in plates, crosses or similar forms Dyed or printed fabrics Production in which the value of extra-regional materials used does not exceed 30% of the export price of the finished product A group of products including: Paper products Production in which the value of extra-regional materials does not exceed 50% of the export price of the finished product A range of products included in HS Chapters 73-96: Copper, nickel and aluminium and articles thereof Lead, tin and zinc and articles thereof Other base metals; miscellaneous articles of base metal Tools Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers Electrical machinery and parts Railway or tramway locomotives and parts thereof Vehicles other than railway and tramway locomotives and parts thereof Aircraft and parts thereof Table III.1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/S/49 Trade Policies Review Page 34 Product Rules of origin Ships and boats and floating structures Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus and parts and accessories thereof Clocks and watches Musical instruments Furniture Arms and ammunitions Toys Miscellaneous articles a These origin rules apply to the medium-development countries of CARICOM; the less developed are accorded slightly more generous shares of regional value added. Source: CARICOM Secretariat. List of Conditions to be complied with as provided under Article 14 of the Annex to the Treaty and the rules regarding Common Market origin, Schedule II, 1 January 1998. (iii) Tariffs 11. Trinidad and Tobago adopted the CET on 1 January 1991.2 The tariff schedule is based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System of 1996 (HS 96) and is in principle the CARICOM CET Schedule applied at Phase IV of the CET's calendar of reductions, including the national exceptions to the CET listed in Lists A and C (Table AIII.2). Since the adoption of the CET, the maximum external tariff for industrial goods has been lowered from 35% to 20% with the last phase implemented on 1 July 1998. The ceiling rate does not apply to goods included in List C of the CET, for which the CET has been suspended and which are subject to ad valorem rates as high as 30% and, in the case of some products (see below), to specific duties.
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