Dominica

Location : Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about one-half of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago 

Capital : Roseau

Languages : English (official), French patois 

Area : 754 sq km

Land Use : arable land: 6.67%; permanent crops: 20%; other: 73.33% (2001)

Natural Resources : timber, hydropower, arable land

Population : 69,029 (July 2005 est.).

Labour force : 25,000 (1999 est.)

Labour force participation rate : 36.22% of population (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line : 30% (2002 est.)

International Organisation participation : ACCT, ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

GDP per capita : U$5,500 (2003 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : -1% (2003 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 18%; industry: 24%; services: 58% (2002 est.)

Industries: soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes

Industrial production growth rate : -10% (1997 est.) 

Agriculture - products : bananas, citrus, mangoes, root crops, coconuts, cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited

Exports : U$39 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities : bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges

Exports - partners : UK 21.5%, Jamaica 20%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.3%, Guyana 7%, Japan 5.3%, US 4.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 4.5%, Poland 4% (2004)

Imports : U$98.2 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities : manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, food, chemicals

Imports - partners : China 20.1%, US 18.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.2%, UK 7.2%, South Korea 5.3%, Japan 4.5% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE

Dominica 's trade policies have been aimed at gradually establishing an open trading environment while at the same time ensuring that domestic producers become more competitive in order to face the increased competition that characterizes trade liberalization. Within that context, the major change in Dominica's trade policy in recent years has been the decision to use tariffs to provide protection to domestic producers instead of quantitative restrictions and import licences.

Dominica applies the CARICOM Common External Tariff (CET). The tariff generally applies a top rate of 20% for industrial goods and 45% for agricultural products. The structure of the tariff is based on the concept of the economic use of the goods, differentiated between inputs and final goods. Inputs are identified as primary, intermediate or capital goods, while for final goods, distinction is made between basic and non-basic categories of goods. Certain foodstuffs and other supplies are classified as basic, while all other final goods are non-basic.

During the Uruguay Round, all agricultural tariff lines and most industrial lines, with the exception of certain items of domestic-production interest to Dominica, were bound. Agricultural products were bound at a ceiling level of 100%, with an implementation period of six years; some exceptions were bound at 150%, with an implementation period of ten years Dominica bound its tariffs on imports of industrial products at a uniform rate of 50% with a number of exceptions, which remained unbound. The exceptions are generally products for which there is domestic production in Dominica. Unbound products are also subject to import licensing requirements.

Dominica has sought limited reciprocal application of trade liberalization, due to its status of small developing country. The authorities expect that deepening integration within the OECS and CARICOM will bring about greater export opportunities for goods and services to the other countries in the region. The implementation of CARICOM's Protocol II, which calls for the removal of restrictions on free trade in services, the rights of establishment, and the movement of capital, is expected to have the greatest impact in that regard, acting as a catalyst for the growth and development of the services sector in Dominica.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Marketing has the overall responsibility to formulate and coordinate the implementation of national trade and international trade issues, while the Ministry for Finance and Planning is in charge of tariffs matters. Other agencies involved in trade include the Dominica Banana Marketing Corporation (DBMC), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, and the Dominica Bureau of Standards. Policy coordination at the national level is mainly through the participation of the private sector on the board of directories of some of Dominica's trade-related agencies, such as the Dominica Banana Marketing Corporation or through participation of business associations in mixed groups.

Dominica coordinates a number of trade policy issues with other OECS and CARICOM member states- in particular through the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) in the case of the latter. This is also true for investment issues, foreign affairs, services, and competition policy. Agricultural policies are coordinated to some extent with other CARICOM member States under the Regional Transformation Programme (RTP), and a greater degree of coordination is anticipated as the CARICOM Single Market consolidates, as outlined in Protocol V on Agricultural Policy. The authorities also expect deepening regional integration to be instrumental in fostering increased coordination of policies at the OECS and CARICOM levels, resulting in a strengthening of the institutional framework for policy formulation and implementation in the region and in Dominica, and more effective use of limited resources.

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

Dominica has bilateral trade agreements with Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It is a beneficiary of the General System of Preferences schemes of Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, the European Union, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Switzerland, and the United States. The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) provides for duty-free access to the U.S. market for a range of Dominica's exports. Exports from Dominica also enjoy preferential access to the Canadian market through the Canadian Programs for Commonwealth Caribbean Trade, Investment and Industrial Cooperation (CARIBCAN). Through CARICOM, Dominica is currently negotiating a free trade agreement to replace CARIBCAN as well as a free trade agreement with MERCUSOR.

Regional

Dominica participates in a number of regional and preferential trade arrangements, namely:  the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).Through the latter it is a part of a fully established monetary union with the other states of the Eastern Caribbean. Dominica is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the CARIFORUM configuration. It is also involved in negotiations to form the hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas.MultilateralDominica is a founding WTO Member and applies at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. It has GATS commitments in 20 sectors.  

NEED PRIORITIES  

Priority areas for Dominica are; the establishment of institutional mechanism to fulfil multilateral obligations; development of administrative infrastructure; human resources for trade policymaking; capacity building of the trade policy team; stakeholder sensitisation; implementation of agreements and formulating EPA negotiating positions.

Source: Commonwealth Yearbook, World Fact Book, WTO Secretariat.