In 2003 the OECS Secretariat established the Trade Policy Unit within the Economic Affairs Division to assist Member States to formulate and implement trade policies and negotiate trade rules and arrangements which will facilitate sustainable development.
OECS Member States are signatories to trading arrangements such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the World Trade Organisation and bilateral free trade arrangements. The countries want to ensure that their strategic interests with respect to trade policy are treated with adequately. As a result of this the Secretariat formally established its own modality for dealing with trade policy. Prior to the formal establishment of the Unit, The OECS CIDA funded Trade Policy Project which ran from 200-2006 provided technical support to Member States and the Secretariat to formulate and implement trade policy.
Other institutional arrangements that are integral to the work of the Trade Policy Unit are, The Geneva Mission and the Hub and Spokes Project.
What is Trade Policy?
The laws, regulations, regional & international agreements and negotiating positions adopted by governments to support domestic firms.
Trade is an integral part of the OECS development strategy. As a group, they pursue the negotiation of trade arrangements that cater to their smallness and vulnerability by safeguarding sensitive domestic sectors and providing more access to markets of export interest.
Countries enter into trade arrangements to establish binding agreements that guarantee the terms under which goods and services are traded. These can be bilateral (between two parties), regional (among a group of parties in a geographical area) or multilateral (among a large number of countries).
The OECS is involved in trade arrangements at various levels:
Regional:
The Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME): a fully liberalized and integrated market intended to facilitate sustained economic growth and development in the participating Member States.
Bilateral:
CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM (CARICOM Member States and the Dominican Republic) and the European Union. The agreement was signed in 2008.
CARICOM also has bilateral agreements with Venezuela; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; and the Dominican Republic.
A Trade and Development Agreement is under negotiation between CARICOM and Canada. Negotiations began in 2009.
Multilateral:
World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an international organisation that regulates trade policy among its members. It was established on January 1, 1995 and has 153 members. The TPU works closely with the OECS Mission in Geneva on WTO matters.