RESTRICTEDWORLD  TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/TPR/S/122
1 October 2003
(03-5077)
Trade Policy Review Body
TRADE POLICY REVIEW
GUYANA
Report by the Secretariat
This report, prepared for the first Trade Policy Review of Guyana, has been
drawn up by the WTO Secretariat on its own responsibility.  The Secretariat has,
as required by the Agreement establishing the Trade Policy Review Mechanism
(Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade
Organization), sought clarification from the Government of Guyana on its trade
policies and practices.
Any technical questions arising from this report may be addressed to
Mr. Angelo Silvy (tel. 739 5249).
Document WT/TPR/G/122 contains the policy statement submitted by the
Government of Guyana.
Note: This report is subject to restricted circulation and press embargo until the end of the meeting 
of the Trade Policy Review Body on Guyana.Guyana WT/TPR/S/122
Page iii
CONTENTS
Page
SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS vii
(1) I NTRODUCTION vii
(2) E CONOMIC ENVIRONMENT vii
(3) T RADE AND INVESTMENT POLICIES viii
(4) M ARKET ACCESS IN GOODS ix
(5) O THER MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE x
(6) S ECTORAL POLICIES x
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 1
(1) I NTRODUCTION 1
(2) R ECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 1
(i) Structure of the economy 1(ii) Economic reform 5(iii) Macroeconomic developments 6(iv) Fiscal policy 7(v) Monetary and exchange rate policy 9
(vi) Balance of payments 10
(3) D
EVELOPMENTS IN TRADE 12
(i) Commodity composition of trade 12(ii) Direction of trade 13
(4) T
RENDS AND PATTERNS IN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) 14
(5) O UTLOOK 15
II. TRADE POLICY REGIME:  FRAMEWORK AND OBJECTIVES 16
(1) I NTRODUCTION 16
(2) G ENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK 17
(3) T RADE POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION 18
(i) Trade policy objectives 18
(ii) Ministries and other agencies in volved in trade policy formulation 18
(iii) Inter-agency coordination and consultations with civil society for the
formulation and implementation of trade policy 20
(iv) Institutional capacity-building and technical assistance 20
(4) I NTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 21
(i) World Trade Organization 21
(ii) Regional and bilateral agreements 23
(iii) Preferential trade arrangements 27(iv) Trade consultations and disputes 28
(5) I
NVESTMENT POLICY 29
(i) Legal, institutional, and operational framework 29(ii) Investment tax regime and incentives 29
(iii) Privatization 31WT/TPR/S/122 Trade Policy Review
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III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE 32
(1) I NTRODUCTION 32
(2) M EASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING IMPORTS 33
(i) Procedures 33(ii) Tariffs 34
(iii) Other charges affecting imports 41
(iv) Tariff quotas and quantitative restrictions 42(v) Customs valuation 42(vi) Rules of origin 43(vii) Import prohibitions, restrictions, and licensing 43
(viii) Contingency measures 46
(ix) Standards and technical regulations 47(x) Environmental protection 49(xi) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures 49
(3) M
EASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING EXPORTS 50
(i) Procedures 50
(ii) Export taxes, charges, and levies 50
(iii) Export prohibitions, restrictions, and licensing 51(iv) Duty and tax concessions 51(v) Export operations of state enterprises 52(vi) Export finance, insurance, and guarantees 52(vii) Export promotion and marketing assistance 52
(4) M
EASURES AFFECTING PRODUCTION AND TRADE 52
(i) Legal framework for businesses inc. registration and licensing 52(ii) Incentives 53(iii) Government procurement 57(iv) Role of state-owned enterprises 58
(v) Competition policy and regulatory issues 58
(vi) Intellectual property rights 59
IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR 63
(1) I
NTRODUCTION 63
(2) A GRICULTURE 63
(i) Features 63
(ii) Policy considerations 65
(iii) Market access 66(iv) Measures of support 67(v) Main crops 68
(3) F
ISHERIES 75
(4) F ORESTRY 76
(5) M INING 77
(i) Features 77(ii) Regulatory framework 77(iii) Main products 78
(6) M
ANUFACTURING 81
(i) Features 81
(ii) Policy considerations 83
(iii) Market access 84Guyana WT/TPR/S/122
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(7) E LECTRICITY AND OTHER UTILITIES 84
(8) S ERVICES 87
(i) Features 87(ii) Commitments under international agreements 87(iii) Financial services 87
(iv) Tourism 93
(v) Transport services 94(vi) Telecommunications 96
REFERENCES 99
APPENDIX TABLES 103
CHARTS
I ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
I.1 Principal exports of Guyana, 1993-2002 13
I.2 Principal trading partners of Guyana, 2001 14
III TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE
III.1 Tariff escalation by ISIC 2-digit, 2002 39
TABLES
I ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
I.1 Guyana's merchandise trade balance and its share of the economy, 1993-02 2
I.2 Gross Domestic Product at 1988 prices by industrial origin, 1997-03 3I.3 Basic socio economic indicators, 1997-02 4
I.4 Central Government finances, 1994-02 8
I.5 Sources of government revenue, 2000-02 8I.6 Monetary survey, 1994-02 10I.7 Balance of payments:  current account 1997-03 11I.8 Inflows of foreign direct investment, 1992-02 15
II TRADE POLICY REGIME:  FRAMEWORK AND OBJECTIVES
II.1 Status of notification requirements to the WTO, as circulated to WTO Members ,
1995-30 June 2003 23
III TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASUREIII.1 Lists of exceptions to the CET 35
III.2 Structure of tariff rates, Phases I and IV of the CET schedule of reductions 35
III.3 Guyana Tariff Analysis summary table, 2003 36
III.4 Import duties applied by Guyana on certain imports from CARICOM partners 40III.5 CARICOM Rules of origin 43III.6 Prohibited and restricted imports 44III.7 Products subject to import licensing by HS heading and agencies involved in the
approval process 45
III.8 Technical regulations in place 48
III.9 Export duties 50
III.10 Incentives available to branches of industry 54WT/TPR/S/122 Trade Policy Review
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IV TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR
IV.1 Agriculture as percentage of total GDP, and growth rates, 1992-01 64
IV.2 Main indicators of the sugar industry, 1990-02 69IV.3 Breakdown of sugar exports by destination, 2000-02 70IV.4 Rice statistics, 1975-01 72
IV.5 Index of manufacturing output, 1990-00 81
IV.6 Summary of Guyana's specific commitments in individual service sectors 88
APPENDIX TABLES
III TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE
AIII.1 Preferential tariff by HS code 105
AIII.2 Products subject to import licensing requirements 107Guyana WT/TPR/S/122
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SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS
(1) INTRODUCTION
1. Since the late 1980s, Guyana has
taken important steps to liberalize its trade
and investment regimes, enhancing its
integration into the global economy.  Part ofthis liberalization has taken place through its
participation in the Caribbean Community and
Common Market (CARICOM), but also
through autonomous measures.  Applied MFN
tariffs have been lowered to an average of12.1%, and a relatively limited use is made of
non-tariff trade measures, with the exception
of licensing.  Guyana has introduced or is in
the process of introducing new laws in
investment, government procurement,intellectual property, and several service
subsectors.
2. Guyana's economy relies heavily on
international trade.  Imports exceed the value
of GDP, and exports approach this level.  The
economy is dependent to a great extent on a
few natural resources, such as sugar, gold,bauxite, and rice, which generate most foreign
exchange earnings and have a considerable
impact on production and employment.
Preferential access to the markets of the
European Union and the United States isimportant to Guyana for exports of its
traditional products.  Guyana has been
affected, in recent years, by a deterioration of
its terms of trade, compounded by an erosion
of preferential margins.  As a consequence,Guyana faces problems in its traditional
industries and needs to make further efforts to
increase their competitiveness, while also
seeking to diversify its production and export
base to face a possible further erosion ofpreferences.  This can be best achieved by
continuing and strengthening the ongoing
process of economic reform and trade
liberalization.
(2) E
CONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
3. Guyana has been implementing a
programme of structural reform since 1988,partly under the aegis of the CARICOM andpartly as a result of autonomous measures.  In
this context, Guyana's trade policy has
undergone major change over the past
15 years, from a state-controlled trade regime
to progressively liberalized trade policies.  A
privatization process has also taken place,although, in some cases this process has not
produced the expected results.  The economic
reform programme continues under the
present administration and trade policy
remains a declared core element in thisprogramme.  In 2003, the Government was in
the process of approving a national trade
strategy that stresses the importance of trade
to Guyana, the need to respond to the
challenges of globalization, and endorsesparticipation in bilateral, regional, and
multilateral trade negotiations.
4. Despite reform efforts, Guyana's
economy has been growing at a very slow
pace in recent years, partly affected by a
deterioration in its terms of trade and an
erosion in preferences.  Average GDP growthover the 1997-02 period was 0.6%, and
per capita GDP, at some US$900, remains one
of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.
Growth and investment possibilities are
limited by the large external debt andrelatively high production costs.
Diversification of the economy is generally
seen in Guyana as an imperative.  A key
question for Guyanese policymakers is how
best to achieve that goal.
5. Guyana's economy is heavily
dependent on trade.  Imports accounted for
over 100% of gross domestic product prior to
1999, and exports approached this share.
While the overall participation of trade inGDP has fallen in recent years, that decline
has been more notable for exports rather than
for imports.  Sugar and rice dominate the
traditional agriculture sector, accounting for
nearly three quarters of agricultural
production, and almost one fourth of the total
economy.  Together with bauxite, sugar andrice comprise close to half of Guyana's
exports.  These three traditional industries are
facing competitive challenges, compounded, in
the case of sugar and rice, by erosion in theWT/TPR/S/122 Trade Policy Review
Page viii
margins of preferential access to their main
markets.
6. In recent years, Guyana's monetary
policy has been successful in keeping inflation
under control.  However, the fiscal accounts
have been deteriorating, and the CentralGovernment deficit reached 9.5% of GDP in
2001.  The Government has applied corrective
measures since then, including reducing
expenditure and improving tax collection,
resulting in a lower deficit, of 6.8% of GDP in2002.  Most public enterprises post surpluses,
thus helping to finance the Central
Government deficit.
7. Guyana runs a traditionally large
balance-of-payments current account deficit,which in 2002 represented 13.9% of GDP.
This is mainly due to a structurally large trade
deficit, of some 10% of GDP, although the
services balance also posts a deficit.
Remittances from abroad and external aid
contribute importantly to finance the current
account deficit.  The external debt amounts toalmost twice the size of GDP.  Guyana
participates in some debt-relief schemes.  It
was declared eligible for the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries initiative in 1999 and has
benefited from debt relief thereafter.  Guyanaalso benefits from the International Monetary
Fund's Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility.  In 2002, the IMF approved a three-
year credit under the PRGF for an amount
equivalent to US$73 million.
(3) T
RADE AND INVESTMENT POLICIES
8. Guyana became a contracting party to
the GATT upon independence in 1966.
Guyana is an original Member of the WTO,
grants at least MFN treatment to all itstrading partners, and has made notifications
in agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary
measures, and intellectual property rights,
among others.  Guyana did not participate in
the GATS extended negotiations on
telecommunications, or on financial services.
9. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and
International Cooperation (MOFTIC) is thegovernment agency with responsibility for
trade policy matters.  MOFTIC's interagency
coordination responsibilities are facilitated by
the National Advisory Committee on External
Negotiations (NACEN), established in 1997.
NACEN complements the work of theCaribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery at
the national level.
10. Guyana's trade policy is designed and
implemented within the framework of its
participation in the Caribbean Community andCommon Market (CARICOM).  Guyana is the
ministerial spokesman for CARICOM in WTO.
Through its participation in CARICOM,
Guyana has concluded preferential trade
agreements with Colombia and Venezuela andis negotiating with some other countries in the
region.  Agreements with Cuba and the
Dominican Republic have been signed, but are
not in effect yet.  Guyana has also signed
bilateral agreements with Brazil, China, and
Venezuela.  Guyana is a participant in the
Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations.
11. Guyana considers full participation in
the multilateral trading system as an essential
element for achieving its key developmental
goals.  As of mid 2003, several trade-related
reforms were under active consideration,including a new Investment Code, an updated
copyright law, a revised government
procurement statute, the introduction of
competition policy legislation and a
Competition Commission, and the ratificationof trade agreements that had been negotiated
either on a bilateral basis or through
CARICOM.
12. Over three quarters of Guyana’s
exports benefit from preferential access toforeign markets.  Guyana receives preferential
treatment under the ACP-EU Agreement;  the
Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI);  the
Canadian Programs for Commonwealth
Caribbean Trade, Investment and Industrial
Cooperation (CARIBCAN);  and is a
beneficiary of the Generalized System ofPreferences (GSP) of a number of countries.Guyana WT/TPR/S/122
Page ix
13. Guyana's investment regime is
generally open to foreign investors and grants
national treatment with few exceptions.
Foreign investors may benefit from a number
of import duty and tax concessions.
(4) MARKET ACCESS IN GOODS
14. Guyana has significantly liberalized
its trade regime in the last decade, but some
distortions remain.  Market access has in
general been enhanced under the process of
progressive liberalization in CARICOM.However, domestic legislation has been only
partly amended to implement Guyana's
commitments under the different WTO
agreements.
15. Guyana has bound its entire tariff in
the WTO at a ceiling of 50% for non-
agricultural products (with some exceptions)
and at 100% for all agricultural products.
Guyana applies Phase IV of CARICOM's
Common External Tariff (CET), with a
maximum tariff of 20% for industrial products
and 40% for agricultural goods, with anumber of exceptions.  The average applied
MFN tariff is 12.1%, and almost two thirds of
tariff lines are subject to duties of 10% or less,
but a limited number of products, mainly
agricultural goods, alcoholic and otherbeverages, and tobacco, face duties as high as
100%.  With a small number of exceptions,
Guyana grants duty-free access on imports
from other CARICOM countries, provided that
they meet CARICOM rules of origin.  Guyanaalso grants tariff preferences to a limited
number of products originating in Colombia.
16. Guyana makes extensive use of
import-duty relief schemes.  Guyana, like
other CARICOM members, may grant fullimport duty exemption to the goods in its
Conditional Duty Exemption List.  A number
of other import-duty relief schemes are also
used.  These relief schemes, and in general the
wide scope of CET exceptions, reduce the
degree of predictability and transparency of
the applied tariff, and in some cases may beintroducing elements of discrimination among
users of the imported products.  Most items,including imported goods, are subject to a
30% consumption tax, although some goods
may be subject to lower rates and a few to
higher ones (up to 128%).
17. Guyana enacted the GATT/WTO
Customs Valuation Agreement (CVA) witheffect from 1 January 1991 and
operationalized the system in 1993.  Customs
valuation is increasingly based on invoice
prices, although reference prices may be used
occasionally.  Guyana applies import-licensing requirements on a relatively large
number of products.  Both automatic and non-
automatic licensing is used.  The current list of
items subject to import licensing includes
some important products of nationalindustries, such as, rice and cane sugar, some
of the most significant imports, such as
petroleum and by-products, wheat flour, and
fertilizers, and other goods for which there are
special considerations of health and safety.
The products under licensing requirements are
subject neither to quotas, nor to tariff quotas,these instrument are not used by Guyana.
Guyana has never applied anti-dumping or
countervailing duties, nor has it implemented
safeguard measures.
18. Guyana is not a party to the WTO
Agreement on Government Procurement.  In
the past, procurement has been riddled with
weaknesses and lack of transparency.  In
1996, Guyana set up the Central Tender
Board Secretariat to improve theadministration and management of the
procurement system.  New government
procurement legislation to modernize the
procurement process and make it more
transparent was assented but not enacted in2002,  the proposed legislation was revised in
2003 and a new bill introduced.  The changes
included in the new legislation aim to promote
competition among suppliers and fairness and
transparency in public procurement, and
include provisions on the general use of public
tendering, and to promote the respect ofinternational agreements.  The draft law
grants the right to apply preferences to
domestic suppliers.WT/TPR/S/122 Trade Policy Review
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19. Guyana maintains some 235 national
standards, approximately half of which have
been adapted from international standards.
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards
monitors 19 categories of goods imported into
Guyana, and has issued 14 technicalregulations to this aim, generally dealing with
labelling.  A number of sanitary and
phytosanitary requirements, including the
widespread use of sanitary and phytosanitary
certificates, are applied on imports.
(5) O
THER MEASURES AFFECTING 
TRADE
20. Export taxes apply in principle to a
group of non-manufactured products, at a
general rate of 1.5%, with some exceptions.  Inpractice, however, taxes have been waived or
are not collected in most cases, contributing
relatively little to overall government revenue.
A small number of products are subject to
export licensing.
21. Guyana applies a number of incentive
schemes;  some incentives are applied across-the-board and are made available if certain
specific criteria, such as local value added
content, are met.  Guyana also offers several
sector-specific programmes.  In this respect,
tax and tariff incentive programmes areavailable to promote trade and investment in
tourism, fisheries, mining, forestry,
manufacturing, and agriculture.  An export
allowance is granted as a percentage of export
profits, varying between 25% and 75%, fornon-traditional exports outside of CARICOM.
Domestic and foreign investors are treated
equally with respect to these incentives.
22. Guyana is in the process of amending
its intellectual property rights legislation tocomply with the provisions of the TRIPS
Agreement.  Implementation of this agreement
is awaiting the enactment of this new
legislation.  Existing legislation is outdated,
pre-dating independence.  The terms and
scope of protection are, in general, less
favourable than those in the TRIPSAgreement.  A draft Copyright Bill notified to
the WTO is expected to be implemented in thenear future, and to be followed later by new
legislation in other intellectual property areas.
Although Guyana has no specific competition
policy legislation, monopolies are prohibited,
with the exception of the electricity and
telecommunications subsectors.
(6) S
ECTORAL POLICIES
23. The Guyanese economy is still heavily
dependent on the primary sector, in particular
agriculture and mining.  Primary activities
represented some 45% of GDP in 2002 andgenerated most of Guyana’s foreign exchange
earnings.  Between 1997 and 2002, the
contribution of services and agriculture to
GDP has increased, while the share of
manufacturing and mining has decreased.
24. The traditional agriculture sector,
comprised mainly of sugar and rice, continues
to be supported by preferential access to the
CARICOM, EU and U.S. markets.  In 1997,
Guyana lost most of its preferential quota
access for rice exports to the European Union.
Combined with a deterioration in worldprices, producer indebtedness, and bad
weather, this loss has led to a sharp drop in
Guyana's rice exports.  The sugar industry is
sustained, in part, by Guyana's preferential
treatment in the markets of the EU, theUnited States, and CARICOM.
25. Imports of agricultural products
generally face higher tariffs than industrial
goods.  Tariffs are particularly high for
beverages, spirits, and tobacco, which alsoface high consumption tax rates.  Although
Guyana applies no quantitative restrictions on
the importation of agricultural products, nor
does it resort to the use of tariff quotas, a
relatively large number of animal andvegetable products are subject to import-
licensing and SPS requirements.  Guyana does
not provide export subsidies, nor does it
extend non-exempt support to agricultural
producers.  Support is provided through
programmes notified to the WTO as Green
Box measures.Guyana WT/TPR/S/122
Page xi
26. Despite difficulties faced in recent
years, mining continues to be an important
activity for Guyana.  The main products are
gold, bauxite, and diamonds.  The production
of bauxite in particular has suffered from high
costs, and attempts to restore the industry'scompetitiveness, including through
privatization, have proven unfruitful.  The
mining sector is also affected by a high level of
domestic taxation.
27. The manufacturing sector is small and
devoted primarily to the processing of natural
resources.  Guyana has preferential access to
the U.S., EU, and Canadian markets for its
manufactured products.  Guyana also benefits
from the GSP schemes of a number of othercountries, and has duty-free or reduced-duty
access to the markets of other CARICOM
countries, Venezuela, and Colombia.  Despite
this preferential access, the development and
growth of the manufacturing sector has been
limited, with apparel the one notable area in
which Guyana’s exports of manufactures areexpanding.
28. The Guyana Electricity Corporation,
the main public supplier of electricity, was
privatized in 1999 and the Guyana Power and
Light, Inc. (GP&L) was created.  Until April2003, private participation in GP&L was
50%, while the Government of Guyana held
the other half-share.  Although the country's
electricity generation increased by over 30%between 1997 and 2002, there were significant
problems in GP&L's management and
regulation, and the private investors sold their
share in the company back to the Government
for US$1;  the Government resumed full
ownership of the utility in April 2003 andmanagement control a month later.
29. Services account for some 40% of
GDP.  Guyana has made GATS commitments
in five sectors:  business, communication,
financial, tourism, and transport services.Tourism is the most important service activity
in terms of foreign exchange earnings,
although it is less important to Guyana than it
i s  t o  m o s t  o t h e r  C A R I C O M  c o u n t r i e s .   T h e
industry enjoys various incentives.  Financialservices are generally open to foreign
investors, as witnessed by the relatively large
number of foreign banks operating in the
country.  In telecommunications, there is a
monopoly in the provision of fixed telephony
services until 2010, but the provision on non-
landline services such as cellular telephony isopen to domestic and foreign competition.  A
cabotage rule is in place under which only
Guyana ships may trade between Guyana
ports, but this rule may be subject to
exemptions.  The registration of ships inGuyana is, in principle, limited to nationals of
Guyana or of other CARICOM countries, or to
corporate bodies established in Guyana and
having their principal place of business in the
country.