CARIBCAN
Encyclopedia
The Caribbean-Canada Trade Agreement known as ("CARIBCAN") is a Canadian government
programme, established in 1986 by the Parliament of Canada
. The agreement was created to promote trade
, investment
and provide industrial
cooperation through the preferential access of duty-free goods from the countries of the Commonwealth-Caribbean
to the Canadian market.
Features of the agreement also include: seminars for businesspersons of the Caribbean
region to learn more about developing a market for their products in the Canadian market, a programme to expand exports capabilities by Caribbean businesses and also the assistance of the Canadian Department of Industry and Technology in the Caribbean region for regional trade commissioners with the aim of trade promotion efforts to the Canadian market.
According to the DFAIT
: the "CARIBCAN’s basic objectives, then, are to enhance the Commonwealth Caribbean’s existing trade and export earnings; improve the trade and economic development prospects of the region; promote new investment opportunities; and encourage enhanced economic integration and cooperation within the region."
Other items are eligible for duty-free status if they can be certified as being either grown, manufactured or produced within the Commonwealth-Caribbean or Canada. The definition to be designated as Caribbean as its origin is; 'having a minimum input of 60 percent of the ex-factory price of the goods (including overhead and reasonable profits) originating within any of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries(or Canada). The goods must also be exported directly from the Caribbean to Canada with no other work carried out at foreign transshipment
points.
More: GO-Invest - Guyana
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
programme, established in 1986 by the Parliament of Canada
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
. The agreement was created to promote trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
, investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
and provide industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
cooperation through the preferential access of duty-free goods from the countries of the Commonwealth-Caribbean
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
to the Canadian market.
Features of the agreement also include: seminars for businesspersons of the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
region to learn more about developing a market for their products in the Canadian market, a programme to expand exports capabilities by Caribbean businesses and also the assistance of the Canadian Department of Industry and Technology in the Caribbean region for regional trade commissioners with the aim of trade promotion efforts to the Canadian market.
According to the DFAIT
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade , more commonly known as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is a department in the Government of Canada which has responsibility for foreign policy and diplomacy, as well as import/export and international trade policies.On June...
: the "CARIBCAN’s basic objectives, then, are to enhance the Commonwealth Caribbean’s existing trade and export earnings; improve the trade and economic development prospects of the region; promote new investment opportunities; and encourage enhanced economic integration and cooperation within the region."
Countries in CARIBCAN
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-- AnguillaAnguillaAnguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
, Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and BarbudaAntigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
, the Bahamas, BermudaBermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, BarbadosBarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, the British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, the Cayman IslandsCayman IslandsThe Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
, The Commonwealth of DominicaDominicaDominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, GrenadaGrenadaGrenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, the Co-operative Republic of GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, MontserratMontserratMontserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
, Saint Kitts and NevisSaint Kitts and NevisThe Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
, Saint LuciaSaint LuciaSaint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
, Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSaint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
, the Republic of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, and the Turks and Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsThe Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...
.
Exempted items
The CARIBCAN agreement does not cover duty-free access for the following items:- Textiles and apparel,
- footwear,
- luggage and handbags,
- leather garments,
- lubricating oils and
- methanol.
Other items are eligible for duty-free status if they can be certified as being either grown, manufactured or produced within the Commonwealth-Caribbean or Canada. The definition to be designated as Caribbean as its origin is; 'having a minimum input of 60 percent of the ex-factory price of the goods (including overhead and reasonable profits) originating within any of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries(or Canada). The goods must also be exported directly from the Caribbean to Canada with no other work carried out at foreign transshipment
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
points.
Future
This agreement after running its course for around twenty years, has been slated to be replaced by a full composit Caribbean-Canada Free Trade Agreement, with reciprocal equal access for Canadian companies to the Caribbean market as well.See also
- The Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership ActCaribbean Basin Trade and Partnership ActThe Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act is a law adopted by the U.S. Government in October 2000 to delineate enhanced trade preferences and eligibility requirements for the 24 beneficiary countries of the Caribbean Basin region....
- Involving the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Commonwealth Caribbean, ArubaArubaAruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, the Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, the Netherlands AntillesNetherlands AntillesThe Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
, NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, and PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. - Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada)Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada)The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade , more commonly known as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is a department in the Government of Canada which has responsibility for foreign policy and diplomacy, as well as import/export and international trade policies.On June...
More: GO-Invest - Guyana
Similar Caribbean agreements
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act or Caribbean Basin InitiativeCaribbean Basin InitiativeThe Caribbean Basin Initiative was a unilateral and temporary United States program initiated by the 1983 "Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act" . The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984 and aimed to provide several tariff and trade benefits to many Central American and Caribbean countries....
(CBI) - European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
: Lomé ConventionLomé ConventionThe Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Community and 71 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries, first signed in February 1975 in Lomé, Togo.- History :...
(succeeded by the Cotonou AgreementCotonou AgreementThe Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States . It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, by 78 ACP countries and the then fifteen Member States of the European Union...
) - Between CARICOMCaribbean CommunityThe Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...
: Affiliated Caribbean states.