1. KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND INVESTMENT “GOOD PRACTICES”
“Consultancy Services to Develop a Regional Single Administrative Document (SAD) and Capacity Building on Customs Valuations for CARICOM Member States and CARIFORUM Countries”
Brussels
20 February 2018
Presenter: Mr. Sean Taylor

2. Background
CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement was signed in October 2008 and is being provisionally applied.
EPA is a trade and development Agreement which aims to further integrate the CARIFORUM States into the global economy and promote regional integration.
EPA provides for asymmetric and progressive opening of trade in goods- Thirteen percent of the products from the EU remains subject to tariffs-gradual phase-out of tariff up to 25 years.

3. Background (cont’d)
EPA covers trade in goods and services, investment, trade related issues like competition, innovation and intellectual property, development cooperation as well as customs and trade facilitation (Chapter 4, Title I – Trade in Goods).

4. Background (cont’d)
Article 31 (2) (c ) speaks to the need to apply a Single Administrative Document (SAD) or its electronic equivalent in the EU Party and CARIFORUM.
Article 33 requires that the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT govern customs valuations on trade between the Parties.

5. Benefits of a SAD A Regional SAD has the following benefits:
Simplification of administrative requirements;
Rationalization and reduction of administrative documentation;
Standardization of the required data; and
Harmonization of data shared from one Member State to another.

6. ACP TRADECOM II Support -Outputs
In late 2017, the Consultancy was launched with the following Outputs:
A Regional SAD for CARICOM and subsequently for CARIFORUM as per the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in accordance with WCO Data Model Version 3; and
Support the CARICOM and CARIFORUM States through capacity building for customs officials on valuations and declarations in the application of the principles and procedures of the SAD.

7. ACP TRADECOM II Support – Outputs (cont’d)
The Consultants are expected to organise a three day regional training and consultation workshop in Georgetown, Guyana.
The workshop has the following objectives:
Consideration of the regional SAD and its implementation modalities; and
Provision of training to customs officials on customs valuation.

8. Limits to Technical Assistance Support
Review of the Terms of Reference for the Project revealed some weaknesses:
Over emphasis on Desk Research;
The approach to the valuation component had to be re-thought; and
Limited understanding of the regional context (in relation to valuation training needs).

9. Way Forward
To address over emphasis on desk research – it was necessary to introduce field visits into the Project
Ideally, all the CARIFORUM Sides should be visited
Due to budgetary constraints a representative sampling of nine States was selected
Field visit phase was completed in early February 2018

10. Good Practice Cases Field visits
Identification of key stakeholders to champion the Project in States
Monitoring and Evaluation Committee
Review of Technical Offers

11. Thank You