To this end, we hereby instruct our Ministers responsible for Foreign Trade Negotiations to conclude, within ninety (90) days:

(i) the lists of goods that will:

(a) receive preferential treatment through the phased reduction of the MFN rate of duty;

(b) be excluded from receiving duty-free access or phased reduction of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rate of duty as provided for in the Agreement;

taking into consideration the following:

(a) the objective of maximising trade between the Parties and therefore the need to limit to the greatest extent possible the number of goods exempted from immediate duty-free treatment;

(b) the lists should be reciprocal except where the Parties agree otherwise in the interest of balance and fairness;

(c) the need to work on specific arrangements to enhance market access for products which might be affected under Article III:5 of the Annex on Trade in Goods;

(ii) negotiation of the Appendix to the Rules of Origin, containing the detailed list of products and the specific criteria that confer originating status on each product based on the following:

(a) wholly produced or produced from materials wholly produced in CARICOM or the Dominican Republic;

(b) substantial transformation as demonstrated by a change in the Customs Classification Heading for the product from that of the classification of the materials from third countries; and

(c) specific negotiated criteria;

(iii) the definition of the Treatment of Goods and Services produced in Free Trade Zones, within the Free Trade Area, guided by the following objectives:

(a) not to provide the products of the Free Trade Zones with new advantages vis-à-vis products from the customs territories;

(b) not to treat products of Free Trade Zones less favourably than they are currently treated when exported from the Dominican Republic to CARICOM and vice versa;

(c) to establish a strategic basis for future negotiation with respect to products of Free Trade Zones in the Free Trade Area of the Americas;

(iv) exchange of information regarding the treatment that Telecommunications Services receive within the Free Trade Area;

(v) the definition of the Annex on Government Procurement;

(vi) the definition of the terms on which each Party will grant market access and national treatment to service providers;

(vii) negotiation of the Annex on Temporary Entry of Business Persons;

(viii) negotiation of the Appendix to the Annex on Trade in Services relating to Professional Services;

(ix) complete the negotiations of the Appendices to the Annex on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments;

(x) the definition of the treatment that trade agents will receive in order to facilitate market access within the Free Trade Area;

(xi) the definition of the terms and references to be used in the Certificate of Origin.

DONE AT Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in the English and Spanish languages, both being equally authentic, this 22nd day of August 1998.

Index of the CARICOM-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement