The agreement, which was reached in January 2017 at the 10th meeting of the CARICOM’s Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement Joint Commission, was recently confirmed by the Secretariat of the CARICOM.
The agreement focuses on providing mutual access to the parties’ markets. “A significant number of items from the Community, including beer, fish and other agricultural products, and manufactured goods, have been approved for entry into the Cuban market free of duty once both sides formalise the agreement,” said the Secretariat.
The agreement also aims to enhance trade and commercial activity amongst participating states, and is expected to encourage the more developed Community countries to support Cuba. “CARICOM member states have also agreed to grant duty-free access to Cuban goods, including pharmaceuticals. More developed countries (MDC) in the [C]ommunity will also determine the level of preference they will grant to Cuba on a number of other items,” explained the Secretariat.
The CARICOM is a 15-member regional union in the Caribbean that promotes integration and cooperation amongst Caribbean states. Some of its members include St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada.