Consultations get underway on comprehensive review of CET, Rules of Origin

he Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will next week begin consulting with regional stakeholders as it moves to undertake a comprehensive review of the Community’s main trade instruments – the Common External Tariff (CET) and the Rules of Origin.

The consultation will be held at the CARICOM Secretariat on 25 July, 2017, beginning at 9 am. It targets regional organisations that are interested in or likely to be affected by changes to the CET and the Rules of Origin, including Academia, Sector Organisations, Industry Associations, Regional Policy Advocacy Organisations, and Institutions of the Community.

The Consultation, which is in keeping with the Community’s Policy to encourage the inclusion of key stakeholders in policy-making processes, is supported by funding under the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

The CET and the Rules of Origin were approved by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and the Conference of Heads of Government in 1990.  Since then, the global and regional trading environments have changed significantly. Among those changes were the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the negotiation of several free trade agreements including the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU).

In the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, Article 82 provides for the Community to establish and maintain a Common External Tariff for goods which do not qualify for Community treatment in accordance with the plans and schedules of COTED. Article 83 (5) provides for COTED’s continuous review of the CET in whole or in part, to assess its impact on production and trade, as well as to secure its uniform implementation throughout the Community.

It is against this background that the COTED mandated the Comprehensive Review.