WT/L/1036 4 July 2018 (18-4137) Page: 1/8 General Council Original: English/French 26-27 July 2018 CANADIAN TARIFF TREATMENT FOR COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES 2018 REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA ON THE TRADE-RELATED PROVISIONS OF CARIBCAN The following communication, dated 28 June 2018, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Canada. _______________ 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. CARIBCAN is an economic and trade development assistance program for the Commonwealth Caribbean countries and territories established as a result of a commitment by Canada at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Nassau in October 1985. 1.2. The objectives of CARIBCAN are to enhance Commonwealth Caribbean trade and export earnings, improve the trade and economic development prospects of the region, promote new investment opportunities, and encourage enhanced economic integration and co-operation. The main feature of CARIBCAN is the unilateral extension by Canada, beginning on 15 June 1986, of duty-free access to the Canadian market for most commodities originating in Commonwealth Caribbean countries. 1.3. On 28 November 1986, a decision by the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) waived until 15 June 1998, the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the General Agreement, "only to the extent necessary to permit the Government of Canada to provide duty-free treatment to eligible imports of Commonwealth Caribbean countries benefiting from the provisions of CARIBCAN, without being required to extend the same duty-free treatment to like products of any other contracting party." (L/6102). On 28 July 2015 the WTO extended the CARIBCAN waiver (WT/L/958) until 31 December 2023. The conditions associated with the CARIBCAN waiver remain unchanged. 1.4. This report is being made in accordance with paragraph 3 of the WTO waiver of 28 July 2015 and Article IX of the WTO Agreement. 2 COUNTRY COVERAGE 2.1. The Customs Tariff lists 18 countries or dependent territories which are eligible to receive the duty-free benefits accorded under CARIBCAN, namely: Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. No country or territory additions or deletions from this list have occurred since CARIBCAN was enacted on 15 June 1986. WT/L/1036 - 2 - 3 PRODUCT COVERAGE 3.1. There have been no amendments to CARIBCAN product coverage since the changes made in February 1998. 3.2. Today, product exclusions from the duty-free provisions of CARIBCAN are: - Goods of HS Chapters 50 to 65 inclusive; - Goods covered by tariff items with "over access commitment" rates of duty established in the "tariffication" process. 4 RULES OF ORIGIN 4.1. The rules of origin for the purposes of the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries Tariff (CCCT) treatment are set out in regulations enacted pursuant to Section 16 of the Customs Tariff. 4.2. To qualify for the duty-free treatment accorded to Commonwealth Caribbean countries, at least 60% of the ex-factory price of the goods as packed for shipment to Canada must originate in one or more beneficiary countries or Canada. The 60% qualifying content may be cumulated from various CARIBCAN beneficiary countries or Canada. The goods must be finished in the beneficiary country in the form in which they are imported into Canada. Pursuant to the Proof of Origin Regulations, either a duly completed Certificate of Origin, Form A, or a written statement of origin signed by the exporter, must be presented to Customs at the time of release, accounting or refund. 5 TRADE UNDER CARIBCAN 5.1. Canada-CARIBCAN trade statistics are annexed in a series of tables to this report and include 2017 trade data. In general, these trade statistics indicate that: - In 2017, 98% of total Canadian imports from CARIBCAN beneficiaries entered Canada free of duty. As shown in Annex III, just over $1.0 billion of this trade entered under MFN free rates while $4.4 million entered duty-free under General Preferential Tariff (GPT). $30.1 million of this trade entered under the preferential CARIBCAN tariff (CCCT). Annex IV shows the top twenty-five commodity imports benefiting from the CARIBCAN preference. - Total Canada-CARIBCAN trade (exports plus imports) was CAN $1.9 billion in 2017. The value of Canadian imports from the region has risen from $1.0 billion in 2007 to $1.1 billion in 2017. The value of Canadian exports to CARIBCAN countries has increased from $769 million in 2007 to $817 million in 2017. 6 STATISTICAL ANNEXES: Annex I: Total Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 2007 - 2017 Annex II: Total Canadian exports to CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 2007 - 2017 Annex III: 2017 Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries by Tariff Treatment Annex IV: Top 25 Merchandise Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries which entered Canada under the CARIBCAN Duty-Free Tariff Treatment (CCCT) in 2017 _______________ ANNEX I Total Canadian Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 2007 – 2017 (thousands of Canadian dollars) Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Anguilla 149 211 308 320 271 272 606 360 226 29 105 Antigua and Barbuda 564 5,468 446 422 414 1,741 625 448 466 216 282 Bahamas 63,303 73,519 30,995 55,121 21,881 146,573 44,069 92,051 35,720 13,641 12,901 Barbados 8,117 8,498 8,663 9,680 6,921 9,578 18,851 12,942 11,557 11,888 12,173 Belize 10,959 10,842 7,247 6,177 7,516 3,221 2,579 1,777 3,786 2,080 1,904 Bermuda 3,192 1,910 10,968 1,389 979 29,015 17,709 31,013 35,319 38,650 30,160 British Virgin Islands 1,994 13,246 720 622 821 1,102 28,258 2,529 1,520 938 2,868 Cayman Islands 314 193 645 304 778 415 210 215 662 2,102 2,299 Dominica 398 337 390 145 289 264 1,153 356 728 231 397 WT/L/1036 Grenada 701 877 509 601 1,718 2,268 1,904 2,018 2,211 1,577 819 - 3 Guyana 161,534 225,084 300,318 290,736 394,657 453,997 486,488 335,752 271,554 666,959 661,486 - Jamaica 370,906 327,580 164,764 161,934 275,412 101,951 205,772 264,949 241,310 204,888 191,258 Montserrat 222 139 69 327 291 197 36 333 233 59 164 St. Christopher (Kitts) and 4,270 5,236 7,033 8,092 9,166 9,638 8,784 6,249 4,072 2,971 3,503 Nevis St. Lucia 313 155 2,289 203 273 268 349 423 509 692 688 St. Vincent and the 568 136 219 162 259 170 173 126 110 143 71 Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago 413,473 341,400 314,955 459,179 388,961 246,424 188,761 557,843 342,388 189,494 176,076 Turks and Caicos Islands 5,146 1,933 299 112 119 186 254 416 843 148 107 Total: 1,046,123 1,016,764 850,837 995,526 1,110,726 1,007,280 1,006,581 1,309,800 953,214 1,136,706 1,097,261 Source: Statistics Canada. ANNEX II Total Canadian Exports to CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 2007-2017 (thousands of Canadian dollars) Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Anguilla 1,386 2,590 1,833 865 2,318 607 850 1,007 1,271 1,612 1,873 Antigua and Barbuda 17,174 21,194 20,095 19,211 9,590 18,273 15,172 10,112 9,990 8,495 8,328 Bahamas 91,210 226,436 146,232 150,620 127,275 486,780 189,761 242,015 68,832 114,895 214,579 Barbados 55,216 45,392 55,448 36,675 44,248 58,853 147,317 187,559 66,607 37,412 33,649 Belize 6,395 6,594 5,544 5,536 4,976 7,464 7,295 19,133 9,258 10,597 14,799 Bermuda 59,035 61,823 56,630 37,647 73,760 22,122 33,658 29,914 36,408 67,260 44,494 British Virgin Islands 2,057 8,694 3,271 22,175 48,168 1,619 2,536 28,628 12,399 3,531 3,774 Cayman Islands 55,092 14,019 6,403 6,224 6,993 8,189 58,645 8,136 8,345 9,674 23,332 Dominica 4,531 5,619 4,386 4,447 3,748 3,864 4,595 6,157 4,551 3,452 5,717 Grenada 5,928 5,653 5,535 5,092 4,423 5,288 4,537 5,648 5,786 7,608 8,664 Guyana 25,710 20,318 27,705 28,076 35,385 25,201 17,902 25,081 23,849 34,114 26,056 WT/L/1036 Jamaica 190,138 187,298 117,954 125,076 106,081 129,416 114,177 111,919 104,329 101,674 112,932 - 4 Montserrat 252 383 272 226 325 380 264 164 232 256 503 - St. Christopher (Kitts) 8,753 7,930 6,242 6,706 5,678 6,524 7,355 9,116 6,756 6,056 8,474 and Nevis St. Lucia 15,083 12,309 10,040 35,745 8,476 9,183 10,247 11,202 9,925 9,561 8,303 St.