WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO WT/TPR/M/190/Add.2 
4 March 2008 
 (08-0962) 
Trade Policy Review Body 
5 and 7 November 2007 Original:  English/ 
                anglais/                 inglés 
  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
OECS-WTO MEMBERS 
Minutes of Meeting
 
Addendum  
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Vesa Himanen (Finland) 
 This document contains additional rep lies provided by the OECS-WTO Members.1 
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Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales 
5 et 7 novembre 2007  
EXAMEN DES POLITIQUES COMMERCIALES 
ÉTATS DE L'OECO MEMBRES DE L'OMC 
Compte rendu de la réunion
 
Addendum  
Présidente:  S.E. M. Vesa Himanen (Finland) 
 
 Le présent document contient les réponses additionnelles fournies par les États de l'OECO Membres de l'OMC.
1 
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Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales 
5 y 7 de noviembre de 2007 
 
EXAMEN DE LAS POLÍTICAS COMERCIALES 
MIEMBROS DE LA OMC INTEGRANTES DE LA OECO 
Acta de la reunión  
Addendum  
Presidente:  Excmo. Sr. Vesa Himanen (Finlandia) 
 
 En el presente documento figuran las respuest as adicionales facilitadas por los Miembros de 
la OMC integrantes de la OECO.1 
                                                      
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente.  WT/TPR/M/190/Add.2 
 Page 3 
 
 
ADDITIONAL RESPONSES PROVIDED BY THE OECS-WTO MEMBERS 
TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS 
  
BRAZIL 
 1. Document WT/TPR/S/190 informs that OECS c ountries all use the rules of origin introduced 
by CARICOM in 1998.  Nothing is said about fr ee circulation.  Do OECS countries have any 
instrument that allows free circulation of goods?  Answer:  The OECS countries do not have any such instrument at this time. 
 
2. Concerning the rules of origin, is there any pr ovision about a third operator?  In this case, how 
do OECS countries control this matter? 
 
Answer: 
 Please clarify the term “third operator”. 
 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES  II. 
TRADE AND INVESTMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK  
(2) TRADE POLICY OBJECTIVES AND FORMULATIONS  
 
Sustainable development 
 
1. Could OECS provide some information about how the issue of trade and sustainable 
development fits into their development strategies?  
 
Answer: 
 
The OECS has articulated a development strate gy and charter on which trade and sustainable 
development have been integrated.  These docume nts are however, being revised as part of the 
process towards the creation of the OECS Economic Union.   
Trade and environment 
 
2. What mechanisms do OECS have in place to ensure coordination of environmental policy and 
trade policy? 
 
Answer: 
 
The revised St. George’s Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability in the OECS 
provides the framework within which the coordination of environmental policy and trade policy can be articulated.  It sets out goals and targ ets for the management and sustainable use of 
natural resources and guidelines for the inclusion of  provisions in regard of environmental issues. 
 WT/TPR/M/190/Add.2 
Page 4  
 
(4) 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS  
(ii) Regional agreements  WTO Secretariat's Report, page 13 and 34, para.57 and 168 
 In paragraphs 57 and 168 of the WTO Secretariat's Report, we can find information regarding the draft 
legislation providing for the establishment of a re gional competition authority, as well as a regional 
competition law for the OECS region.  On the on e hand, and in accordance with the information 
provided in paragraph 57, the OECS members ar e considering the establishment of a regional 
competition authority as opposed to creating a nationa l competition authority in each OECS members, 
and a draft agreement on a single set of competition rul es to be applied by this authority already exists. 
On the other hand, in paragraph 168 of the same document, it is indicated that once the single set of rules enters into force, it is expected that OECS  members will create national competition authorities to 
deal with domestic competition issues.  In this context, the EC would like to pose the following 
questions: 
 
3. Could OECS confirm whether the sub-regi onal (i.e. OECS) competition law regime would 
replace or complement competition law enforcement at the OECS member state level?  
Answer: 
 
Article 170 (2) of the revised CARICOM Trea ty requires member states to establish and 
maintain a national competition authority to fa cilitate and implement the rules of competition. 
 
4. What would be the status of this sub-regi onal competition law enforcement system vis-à-vis 
the larger CARIFORUM competition law enforcement system? 
 
Answer: 
 The regional body will serve as the national au thority for each OECS Member State and will 
enforce the competition law, as such, of each  OECS Member State that is a party to the 
agreement establishing that body. 
 
IV. 
TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR  
(3) SERVICES  
(iv) Tourism  
WTO Secretariat's Report, page 47, para. 242-247  
5. Could OECS elaborate on the existing plans to promote the tourism sector, and what measures governments are taking to ensure non-discrimination of foreign services suppliers? 
 
Answer: 
 
Plans to promote the OECS tourism sector are formulated in response to mandates provided by 
the OECS Council of Tourism Ministers.  Cu rrent mandates relate to:  harmonisation of 
legislation on tourism incentives and product st andards; joint overseas marketing; coordination 
of efforts at tourism human resource developm ent capacity building; improving the quality and 
comprehensiveness of tourism statistics; maximi sation of linkages between tourism and other 
economic sectors, in particular agriculture;  and improving the quality and expanding the 
options for safe, reliable and affordable touris m transportation within the OECS and between 
the OECS and its regional and int ernational tourism source markets. 
  WT/TPR/M/190/Add.2 
 Page 5 
 
 
6. Could OECS inform about their plans for im proving professional education and training related 
to the tourism sector?  
Answer: 
 
The OECS Agenda for human resource development in  tourism is centred on ensuring that there 
is a closer fit between the dema nd for and supply of labour across the OECS sub-region, for an 
industry that is growing and becoming increasing ly diverse.  OECS Member States are pursuing 
common goals for both short and long term tr aining being led by tourism and hospitality 
institutes and community colleges as follows:  (i) Unified core curriculum for different levels of 
certification and which comply with internatio nal best practices;  (ii) Use of uniform 
occupational standards linked to the core cu rriculum;  (iii) Public awareness and career 
awareness at the secondary school level;  (iv) Student mobility intra-regionally;  (v) Student 
exchange programmes;  (vii) System for transf er of credits between institutions;  (viii) Self-
regulatory Quality Assurance Systems in each academic institution. 
 
All of the above goals are consistent with plans to establish a common Caribbean Tourism Learning System.  Select participating hospitalit y and tourism training entities will also seek to 
upgrade their facilities and programmes to a qualit y standard that would allow them to serve as 
Centres of Specialisation for certain aspects of tourism and hospitality arts.  Participating training institutes will also seek to enter in to appropriate matriculation and equivalency 
agreements.  There are also plans to establish a Regional Quality Assurance Framework for 
independent tourism/hospitality training providers.  
7. Could OECS elaborate on their approach to th e regulation of tourism-re lated aspects of general 
interests such us environment, wildlife, urban planning, etc?  Answer:  The OECS engages in interventions in these areas,  with the support of development partners, 
which have a developmental rather than a regulatory focus.  The emphasis is on improving the capacity of Member States to more effectiv ely manage their environmental resources and 
preserve the sub-region’s biodiversity.  With respect  to urban planning as it relates to tourism, 
the focus is on ensuring that development planning and environmental regulations are 
administered efficiently, so as to not to undul y delay the approval of building and development 
applications, and in so doing inadvertently increa se the cost of doing business.  There are also 
plans to get OECS Member States to adopt a uniform building code based on internationally 
accepted principles and standards, paying particul ar attention to the need to reduce vulnerability 
to natural disasters. 
 
8. How do OECS envisage the development of th e tourism sector alongside the promotion of 
local cultures, development of water suppl y and sanitation services, and public security? 
 Answer:  The sustainable growth of the OECS tourism industry is critically dependent on the parallel development of the other mentioned sectors, both from the perspective of the importance of these sectors to the enablement of stable and inclusiv e future growth of tourism, and the positive 
impact of tourism on the generation of public  revenues to promote the development of these 
complementary sectors.  While tourism growth sometimes puts pressure on public authorities to 
provide these other services; on the other hand , the demand generated by tourism for these 
services, stimulates their growth and provides th e critical mass/economies of scale necessary for 
cost-effective production and provision of these services. 
 WT/TPR/M/190/Add.2 
Page 6  
 
9. The EC would be interested to learn about OE CS' assessment of the effect of the tourism sector 
in overall economic growth and employment, and in particular in other economic sectors like 
construction, transport, computer serv ices, education and professional training. 
 
Answer: 
 
The tourism sector is widely recognised as the lead sector of the OECS sub-regional economy.  It has a proven “locomotive” effect on many of th e sectors mentioned – in particular construction 
and transport, as well as wholesale and retail, and increasingly agriculture, through growing inter-sectoral linkages.  Tourism investment also  accounts for a very high percentage of foreign 
direct investment in the OECS and therefore exerts very significant short and long term effects 
on economic growth and employment. 
 
10. Could OECS inform about the existing legisla tion applicable to tour managers (professionals 
accompanying groups of tourists in their trav el through the country) and tourist guides? 
 Answer:  Reference will have to be made to what exists at the national level in individual OECS Member 
States. 
 
Distribution services  
11. How many people work in the distribution sector  and what has been the evolution in the last 
years?   
12. How much of the FDI attracted by OECS in th e last years has been in the distribution sector? 
 13. The EC would be grateful if OECS could elaborate on their assessment of the effect of the distribution sector in overall economic growth, employ ment and social development, and also in other 
economic sectors like construction, transport, com puter services, education and professional training. 
 
14. Could OECS indicate the existing legi slation applicable to retailing services? 
 
Answer:  Reference will have to be made to what exists at the national level in individual OECS Member 
States. 
 
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