COLOMBIA - CARICOM AGREEMENT

TRADE AGREEMENTS World Trade Organization - WTO Free Trade Area of the Americas - FTAA Andean Community The Group of Three (G-3) Colombia - Chile Agreement Andean Countries and Mercosur Agreement Colombia - Caricom Agreement Colombia - Panama Agreement Others

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement between Colombia and the member States of CARICOM (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago)was signed on July 24, 1994, and entered into force on January 1, 1995.

The Agreement's main objectives are to promote and expand trade and investment, to facilitate the creation of regional joint ventures, to develop cooperative economic and scientific activities, and to promote trade between the private sectors of the region.

One of the most important characteristics of the Agreement is that it is an asymmetrical arrangement that favors CARICOM, recognizing the different levels of development between the two Parties. The asymmetry is evident in the different tariff reduction schedules. Colombia initiated tariff cuts at the time the Agreement entered into force, while CARICOM did so four years later.

The tariff cuts provided under the Agreement cover a list of products that have export potential for both Parties. Colombia granted duty-free treatment immediately to a specific set of goods from CARICOM, tariffs for another set of products will be reduced in a 3 year period, and a further set of goods were exempted from the Agreement and their liberalization will be negotiated at a later date.

Since 1998, a list of Colombian products receive preferential treatment from the most-developed members of CARICOM (Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, and Guyana)

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