Bilateral Trade Agreements

CARICOM / COLOMBIA

Agreement on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Government of the Republic of Colombia.

Date of Signature: July 24, 1994

CARICOM / COSTA RICA

Free Trade Agreement Between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and The Government Of The Republic Of Costa Rica.

Date of Signature: March 9, 2004

CARICOM / CUBA

Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Government of the Republic of Cuba.

CARICOM / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Agreement Establishing the Free Trade Area Between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic.

Date of Signature: August 22, 1998

CARICOM / VENEZUEL A

Agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela on Trade and Investment.

Date of Signature: October 13, 1992.

Date of Signature: July 5, 2000

This Agreement provides for trade liberalization as well as trade facilitation for the parties involved. it was initially a one-way agreement granting preferential tariff rates to CARICOM exports into the Colombian market. However, the Agreement was revised in the late 1990’s to provide for tariff reductions on imports from Colombia. This revision only applies to imports into Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Agreement includes a safeguard clause in case of injury or threat of injury to domestic production, or for balance-ofpayments reasons. A CARICOM/ Colombia Joint Council on Trade, Economic and Business Cooperation is responsible for the

CARICOM/Colombia

Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement

administration of the Agreement, while any disputes which may arise regarding subsidies and anti-dumping are to be taken to the WTO.

Trinidad and Tobago's major non-energy sector domestic exports to Colombia for January - December 2008 are:

Some of Trinidad and Tobago's major non-energy imports from Colombia for January - December 2008 are:

This Agreement will allow Trinidad and Tobago manufacturers’ and CARICOM States a more transparent and predictable access to the Costa Rican market, which is in excess of four million people. It also represents another step toward Trinidad and Tobago’s integration into the wider Latin American marketplace.

The agreement provides for free trade or preferential access for a wide range of goods. A limited number of sensitive products, such as fish, chocolate, cigarettes and certain agricultural commodities however, will continue to attract duty, while for some products the duty will be phased out over a four-year period bringing their duties to a zero rate.