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Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community and Common Market - CARICOM
CHAPTER III
TRADE LIBERALISATION
ARTICLE 13
EXCLUSION FROM THIS ANNEX
1. Subject to the provisions of this Article, nothing in this Annex shall be taken to prevent the Member State concerned from imposing import duties or quantitative restrictions on the products listed in Schedule I to this Annex for such periods as are specified therein for the purpose of giving effect to any undertaking by such Member State respecting import duties or quantitative restrictions.
2. Each Member State shall take all reasonable steps open to it in connection with any undertaking referred to in paragraph l of this Article in order to implement any of its obligations under this Annex respecting import duties or quantitative restrictions on such products.
3. Where no expiry date is specified in Schedule I to this Annex, the Member State concerned shall take all reasonable steps open to it to implement any of its obligations in respect of commodities under this Annex respecting corresponding import duties or quantitative restrictions on such products at the earliest practicable date.
4. Where in consequence of any Member State availing itself of any exemption under paragraphs 1 to 3 any other Member State considers that a benefit conferred on it by this Annex respecting import duties or quantitative restrictions on such products is being or may be frustrated that other Member State may refer the matter to Council.
5. Upon reference under paragraph 4 of this Article the Council may unless the matter is otherwise resolved, authorise upon such terms and conditions as it thinks fit the Member State making the reference to suspend, in relation to the Member State availing itself of the exemption, the performance of such of its obligations in respect of commodities under this Annex respecting import duties or quantitative restrictions on such products as the Council considers appropriate.
6. The Council shall keep under continuous review the observance by Member States of the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 Of this Article and may from time to time, by majority vote, recommend to any Member State such measures as it thinks fit for the purposes of those paragraphs.
ARTICLE 14
COMMON MARKET ORIGIN
1. Subject to Schedule II to this Annex, in this Annex goods shall be treated as being of Common Market origin if they are consigned from a Member State to a consignee in another Member State and comply with any one of the following conditions, that is to say, the goods must--
(a) have been wholly produced within the Common Market;
(b) fall within a description of goods listed in a Process List to be established by the decision of Council and have been produced within the Common Market by the appropriate qualifying process described in that List, or
(c) have been produced within the Common Market and the value of any materials imported from outside the Common Market or of undetermined origin which have been used at any stage of the production of the goods does not exceed--
(i) In a Less Developed Member Country 60 per cent of the export price of the goods;
(ii) In any other Member State 50 per cent of the export price of the goods.
2. For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) of paragraph l of this Article, materials listed in the Basic Materials List which forms the Appendix to Schedule II to this Annex which have been used in the state described in that List in a process of production within the Common Market shall be deemed to contain no element from outside the Common Market.
3. Nothing in this Annex shall prevent a Member State from treating as of Common Market origin any imports consigned from another Member State, provided that the like imports consigned from any other Member State are accorded the same treatment.
4. The Council shall keep Schedule II and the Process List established under sub-paragraph (b) of Paragraph l of this Article under continuous review and may amend them in order to ensure the smooth operation of the rules of origin of the Common Market.
ARTICLE 15
IMPORT DUTIES
1. Except as provided in Article 52 and Schedule III to this Annex Member States shall not apply any import duties on goods of Common Market origin.
2. Nothing in paragraph l of this Article shall be construed to extend to the imposition of non-discriminatory internal charges on any products or a substitute not produced in the importing Member State.
3. For the purposes of this Article and Schedule III to this Annex the term "import duties" means any tax or surtax of customs and any other charges of equivalent effect whether fiscal, monetary or exchange, which are levied on imports except duties notified under Article 17 of this Annex and other charges which fall within that Article.
4. Nothing in Paragraph 3 of this Article shall be construed to exclude from the application of paragraph 1 of this Article any tax or surtax of Customs on any product or a substitute not produced in the importing State.
5. This Article does not apply to fees and similar charges commensurate with the cost of services rendered.
ARTICLE 16
EXPORT DRAWBACK
1. Each Member State may refuse to treat as of Common Market origin goods which benefit from export drawback allowed by Member States in which the goods have undergone the processes of production which form the basis of the claim to Common Market origin. In applying this paragraph, each Member State shall accord the same treatment to imports consigned from all other Member States.
2. For the purposes of this Article--
(a) "export drawback" means any arrangement for the refund or remission, wholly or in part, of import duties applicable to imported materials, provided that the arrangement, expressly or in effect, allows refund or remission if certain goods or materials are exported, but not if they are retained for home use;
(b) "remission" includes exemption for materials brought into free ports and other places which have similar customs privileges; "duties" means
(i) all charges on or in connection with importation, except fiscal charges to which Article 17 of this Annex applies; and
(ii) any protective element in such fiscal charges;
(d) "materials" and "process of production" have the meanings assigned to them in Rule 1 of Schedule II to this Annex.
ARTICLE 17
REVENUE DUTIES AND INTERNAL TAXATION
1. Except as provided in Article 52 of Schedule IV to this Annex Member States shall not--
(a) apply directly or indirectly to imported goods any fiscal charges in excess of those applied directly or indirectly to like domestic goods, or otherwise apply such charges so as to protect like domestic goods; or
(b) apply fiscal charges to imported goods of a kind which they do not produce, or which they do not produce in substantial quantities, in such a way as to protect the domestic production of substitutes which enter into direct competition with them and which do not bear, directly or indirectly, in the country of importation, fiscal charges of equivalent incidence.
2. A Member State shall notify the Council of all fiscal charges applied by it where, although the rates of charge, or the conditions governing the imposition or collection of the charge, are not identical in relation to the imported goods and to the like domestic goods, the Member State applying the charge considers that the charge is, or has been made, consistent with sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 1 of this Article. Each Member State shall, at the request of any other Member State, supply information about the application of paragraph l of this Article.
3. For the purposes of this Article and Schedule IV to this Annex --
(a) "fiscal charges" means revenue duties, internal taxes and other internal charges on goods;
(b) revenue duties" means customs duties and other similar charges applied primarily for the purpose of raising revenue; and "imported goods" means goods which are treated as of Common Market origin.
ARTICLE 18
PROHIBITION OF EXPORT DUTIES
1. Member States shall not apply any export duties.
2. Nothing in this Article shall preclude any Member State from taking such measures as are necessary to prevent evasion, by means of re-export of duties, which it applies to exports to territories outside the Common Market.
3. For the purposes of this Article, "export duties" means any duties or charges with equivalent effect imposed on or in connection with the exportation of goods from any Member State to a consignee in any other Member State.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this Article, a Member State may for a period not exceeding 5 years from the date of entry into force of this Annex, apply to any commodity listed in Schedule V, export duties not exceeding those applied immediately before that date.
5. Any Member State that pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article, applies export duties to any commodity listed in Schedule V shall notify the Council of such duties. The Council shall keep such export duties under review and may at any time by majority vote make recommendations to the Member State concerned so as to avoid as far as possible any adverse consequences on any other Member State.
ARTICLE 19
DUMPED AND SUBSIDIZED IMPORTS
1. Nothing in this Annex shall prevent any Member -State from taking action against dumped or subsidized imports that conforms with any other international obligations.
2. Any products which have been exported from one Member State to a consignee in another Member State and have not undergone any manufacturing process since exportation shall, when re-imported into the first Member State be admitted free of quantitative restrictions or measures with equivalent effect. Such products shall also be admitted free of customs duties or charges with equivalent effect except that any allowance by way of drawback, relief from duty or otherwise, given by reason of the exportation from the Member State, may be recovered.
3. If any industry in a Member State is suffering or is threatened with material injury as the result of the import of dumped or subsidized products into any other Member State, the latter Member State shall, at the request of the former Member State, examine the possibility of taking in conformity with any other international obligations action to remedy the injury or prevent the threatened injury.
ARTICLE 20
FREEDOM OF TRANSIT
1. Products imported into, or exported from, a Member State shall enjoy freedom of transit within the Common Market and shall only be subject to the payment of the normal rates for services rendered.
2. For the purposes of paragraph I of this Article, 'transit' means transit within the meaning of Article V. of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
ARTICLE 21
QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS
1. Except where otherwise provided in this Annex, and particularly in Articles 13, 23, 24, 28, 29 and 56, and in Schedules vii, viii, ix, x, and xi a Member State shall not apply any quantitative restrictions on the import of goods which are of Common Market Origin.
2. "Quantitative restrictions" means prohibitions or restrictions on imports into, or exports from, any other Member State as the case may be, whether made effective through quotas, import licences or other measures with equivalent effect, including administrative measures and requirements restricting imports or exports.
3. This Article shall not prevent any Member State from taking such measures as are necessary to prevent evasion of any prohibitions or restrictions which it applies to imports from outside the Common Market. In taking action in pursuance of the foregoing provisions, a Member State shall not accord to products imported from other Member States treatment less favourable than that accorded to products imported from third countries.
ARTICLE 22
QUANTITATIVE EXPORT RESTRICTIONS
1. Except where otherwise provided in this Annex and particularly in Articles 23 and 24 and in Schedules viii, ix and xi a Member State shall not apply any quantitative restrictions on exports to any other Member State.
2. This Article shall not prevent any Member State from taking such measures as are necessary to prevent evasion of any prohibitions or restrictions which it applies to exports outside the Common Market, provided that less favourable treatment is not granted to Member States than to countries outside the Common Market.
ARTICLE 23
GENERAL EXCEPTIONS
Nothing in Articles 21 and 22 of this Annex shall prevent the adoption or enforcement by any Member State of measures--
(a) necessary to protect public morals;
(b) necessary for the prevention of disorder or crime;
(c) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(d) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations relating to customs enforcement, or to the classification, grading or marketing of goods, or to the operation of monopolies by means of state enterprise or enterprises given exclusive or special privileges;
(e) necessary to protect industrial property or copyrights or to prevent deceptive practices;
(f) relating to gold or silver;
(g) relating to the products of prison labour;
(h) imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value;
(i) necessary to prevent or relieve critical shortages of foodstuffs in any exporting Member State; or
(j) relating to conservation of exhaustible natural resources;
but only if such measures are not used as a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Member States, or as a disguised restriction on trade within the Common Market.
ARTICLE 24
SECURITY EXCEPTIONS
1. Nothing in this Annex shall prevent any Member State from taking action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests.
2. Nothing in this Annex shall prevent any Member State from taking action in pursuance of any obligations to which it is subject for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
ARTICLE 25
GOVERNMENT AIDS
1. Except as provided in this Annex, a Member State shall not maintain or introduce--
(a) the forms of aid to export of goods to any other part of the Common Market of the kinds which are described in Schedule VI to this Annex; or
(b) any other forms of aid, the main purpose or effect of which is to frustrate the benefits expected from such removal or absence of duties and quantitative restrictions as is required by this Annex.
2. If the application of any form of aid by a Member State, although not contrary to paragraph 1 (b) of this Article, nevertheless frustrates the benefits expected from such removal or absence of duties and quantitative restrictions as is required by this Annex, the Council may, by majority decision, authorize any Member State to suspend to the Member State which is applying the aid the application of such obligations under this Annex as the Council considers appropriate, provided always that the procedure set out in paragraphs 3 to 5 of Article 11 of this Annex has been followed.
3. This Article--
Shall not apply in respect of trade within the Common Market in any agricultural products until such time as Member States agree upon a Common Market policy with respect to the production and marketing, including the subsidization, of agricultural products.
4. The Council may amend the provisions of Schedule VI of this Annex.
ARTICLE 26
PUBLIC UNDERTAKINGS
1. Member States shall ensure the elimination in the practices of public undertakings, of
(a) measures the effect of which is to afford protection to domestic production which would be inconsistent with this Annex if achieved by means of a duty or charge with equivalent effect or quantitative restrictions or Government aid; or
(b) trade discrimination on grounds of territorial origin in so far as it frustrate the benefits expected from such removal or absence of duties and quantitative restrictions as is required by this Annex.
2. In so far as Article 25 of this Annex is relevant to the activities of public undertakings, that Article shall apply to them in the same way as it applies to other enterprises.
3. Member States shall ensure that new practice of the kind described in paragraph 1 of this Article are not introduced.
4. For the purposes of this Article, 'public undertakings' means central, regional, or local government authorities, public enterprises and any other organization by means of which a Member State by law or in practice controls or appreciably influences imports from, or exports to any other part of the Common Market.
5. This Article shall not apply in respect of trade within the Common Market in agricultural products until such time as Member States agree upon a Common Market Policy with respect to the production and marketing, including the subsidization, of agricultural products.
ARTICLE 27
COOPERATION IN CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION
Member States shall take appropriate measures, including arrangements regarding administrative co-operation to ensure that the provisions of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 17, and Schedules II, III and IV of this Annex are effectively and harmoniously applied, taking account of the need to reduce as far as possible the formalities imposed on trade and of the need to achieve mutually satisfactory solutions of any difficulties arising out of the operation of these provisions.
ARTICLE 28
IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ARISING FROM BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DIFFICULTIES
1. Notwithstanding Article 21 of this Annex a Member State may consistently with any international obligations to which it is subject introduce quantitative restrictions on imports for the purpose of safeguarding its balance of payments.
2. A Member State taking measures in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall notify them to the Council, if possible, before they come into force. The Council shall examine the situation and keep it under review and may at any time by majority vote make recommendations designed to moderate any damaging effect of these restrictions or to assist the Member State concerned to overcome its difficulties. If the balance of payments difficulties persist for more than 18 months and the measures applied seriously disturb the operation of the Common Market, the Council shall examine the situation and may, taking into account the interests of all Member States, by majority vote, devise special procedures to attenuate or compensate for the effect of such measures.
3. A Member State which has taken measures in accordance with paragraph I of this Article shall have regard to its obligations to resume the full application of Article 21 of this Annex and shall, as soon as its balance of payments situation improves, make proposals to the Council on the way in which this should be done. The Council, if it is not satisfied that these proposals are adequate,may recommend to Member States alternative arrangements to the same end. Decisions of the council pursuant to this paragraph shall be made by majority vote.
ARTICLE 29
DIFFICULTIES IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES
1. If, in a Member State--
(a) any industry or particular sector of an industry experiences serious difficulties due to a substantial decrease in internal demand for a domestic product; or
(b) this decrease in demand is due to an increase in imports consigned from other Member States as a result of the establishment of the Common Market, that Member State may, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Annex--
(i) limit those imports by means of quantitative restrictions to a rate not less than the rate of such imports during any period of 12 months which ended within 12 months of the date on which the restrictions came into force; the restrictions shall not be continued for a period longer than 18 months, unless the Council, by majority vote, authorize their continuance for such further period and on such conditions as the Council considers appropriate; and
(ii) take such measures, either instead of or in addition to restriction of imports in accordance with sub-paragraph (I) of this paragraph, as the Council, may by majority vote authorize.
2. In applying measures in accordance with paragraph I of this Article a Member State shall give like treatment to imports consigned from all Member States.
3. A Member State applying restrictions in accordance with sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall notify them to the Council, if possible, before they come into force. The Council may at any time consider these restrictions and may, by majority vote, make recommendations designed to moderate any damaging effect of those restrictions or to assist the Member State concerned to over-come its difficulties.
ARTICLE 30
RESTRICTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES
1. Member States recognize that the following practices are incompatible with this Annex in so far as they frustrate the benefits expected from such removal or absence of duties and quantitative restrictions as is required by this Annex--
(a) agreements between enterprises, decisions by associations of enterprises and concerted practices between enterprises which have as their object or result the prevention, restriction distortion of competition within the Common Market;
(b) actions by which one or more enterprises taken unfair advantage of a dominant position, within the Common Market or a substantial part of it.
2. If any practice of the kind described in paragraph 1 of this Article is referred to the Council in accordance with Article 11 of this Annex the Council may, in any recommendation in accordance with paragraph 3 or in any decision in accordance with paragraph 4 of that Article, make provision for publication of a report on the circumstances of the matter.
3. (a) In the light of experience, the Council shall, as soon as practicable, consider whether further or different provisions are necessary to deal with the effect of restrictive business practices or dominant enterprises on the trade within the Common Market.
(b) Such review shall include consideration of the following matters--
(i) specification of restrictive business practices or dominant enterprises with which the Council should be concerned;
(ii) methods of securing information about restrictive business practices or dominant enterprises;
(iii) procedures for investigation;
(iv) whether the right to initiate inquiries should be conferred on the Council.
The Council may decide to make the provisions found necessary as a result of the review envisaged in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph.
4. Member States undertake to introduce as soon as practicable uniform legislation for the control of restrictive practices by business enterprises giving particular attention to the practices referred to in paragraph I of this Article.
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