The high costs are driven by a number of factors (Table 4), with customs and document preparation charges being particularly dominant for imports. Within the small island states (excluding Dominica), the share of these costs is extremely high when compared to all other Caribbean countries, or Singapore (where customs and document preparation account for 34% of total import costs) and the peer-Pacific Island states (28% of total import costs), as are their nominal values. In addition, all of the small island states but Grenada and St. Kitts have very high inland transport charges, which affect both their imports and their exports. Grenada and St. Kitts, however, have the highest terminal handling charges for imports in the entire Caribbean. The hub countries also suffer from high costs related to customs and documents, with the exception of The Bahamas, where terminal handling charges are the fourth highest in the Caribbean, following St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, and Haiti.

**<u>Table 4: Internal Composition of  Caribbean Costs</u>**

|<br>**a.**<br>**Import Costs**|<br>**Custom**|<br>**s and**|<br>|<br>|<br>|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||<br>**Docum**<br>|<br>**ents**<br>|**Term**<br>**Han**|**inal**<br>**dling**|**Inla**<br>**Transpo**|**nd**<br>**rtation**|**TOTAL COSTS**<br>**(US$ 20'**|
||**Prepar**|**ation**|||||<br>|
||<br>**Share**|<br>**US$**|**Share**|**US$**|**Share**|**US$**|**Container)**|
|||**Hu**|**bs**|||||
|**Bahamas, The**|31|436|48|674|21|295|1,405|
|**Barbados**|52|840|26|420|22|355|1,615|
|**Dominican Republic**|38|437|36|414|26|299|1,150|
|**Jamaica**|51|796|27|421|22|343|1,560|
|**Trinidad and Tobago **|56|706|28|353|16|202|1,260|
|||**Conti**|**nental**|||||
|**Belize**|41|656|34|544|25|400|1,600|
|**Guyana**|54|402|22|164|24|179|745|
|**Suriname**|33|384|20|233|47|548|1,165|
|||**Small Isla**|**nd States**|||||
|**Antigua and Barbuda**|47|879|17|318|36|673|1,870|
|**Dominica**|22|297|33|446|44|594|1,350|
|**Grenada**|60|1,341|32|715|8|179|2,235|
|**St. Kitts and Nevis**|63|1,660|34|869|4|105|2,635|
|**St. Lucia**|53|1,418|19|508|28|749|2,675|
|**St. Vincent and the Grenadines**|72|1,134|12|189|16|252|1,575|
|||**Fragile**|**State**|||||
|**Haiti**|41|633|45|695|14|216|1,545|
|**b.**<br>**Export Costs**|**Custo**|**s and**||||||
||<br>**Docum**<br>**Prepar**|<br>**ents**<br>**ation**|**Term**<br>**Han**|**inal**<br>**dling**|**Inla**<br>**Transpo**|**nd**<br>**rtation**|**TOTAL COSTS**<br>**(US$ 20'**<br>|
||<br>**Share**|<br>**US$**|**Share**|**US$**|**Share**|**US$**|**Container)**|
|||**Hu**|<br>**bs**|||||
|**Bahamas, The**|46|428|22|205|32|298|930|
|**Barbados**|52|421|3|24|44|356|810|
|**Dominican Republic**|40|416|31|322|29|302|1,040|
|**Jamaica**|51|765|26|390|23|345|1,500|
|**Trinidad and Tobago **|54|455|19|160|27|228|843|
|||**Conti**|**nental**|||||
|**Belize**|37|501|34|461|30|407|1,355|
|**Guyana**|55|402|22|161|25|183|730|
|**Suriname**|27|270|19|190|55|550|1,000|
|||**Small Isla**|**nd States**|||||
|**Antigua and Barbuda**|31|446|23|331|47|677|1,440|
|**Dominica**|22|295|34|456|45|603|1,340|
|**Grenada**|32|416|55|715|13|169|1,300|
|**St. Kitts and Nevis**|43|346|44|354|12|97|805|
|**St. Lucia**|24|330|22|303|55|756|1,375|
|**St. Vincent and the Grenadines**|41|383|11|103|48|449|935|
|||**Fragile**|**State**|||||
|**Haiti**|45|533|34|406|21|249|1,185|

_Source: Based on World Bank (2013a)._ 17