fp Turks and Caicos

Duty exemptions for most exports of lobster and conch from the Turks and Caicos Islands to the United States are not in jeopardy of being canceled as has been reported, the governor’s office announced Aug. 7.

The U.S. removed the TCI from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) exemption programme beginning in 2014 saying the country is now a “high income” country. That led some to fear that conch and lobster exports would be affected.

However, few TCI exporters actually use the GSP scheme — only $85,000 in the past five years.

The overwhelming majority of TCI’s exports — $9 million in 2011 — of predominantly lobsters and conch and various forms of scrap materials are imported tariff-free by a different importation mechanism, the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, the governor’s office said.

The U.S. previously granted TCI the MFN status in spite of the country not being a member of the World Trade Organisation. The U.S. authorities have confirmed to the British embassy that TCI fish exports will continue to benefit from duty-free importation into America.

Government CEO Patrick Boyle has confirmed to his US counterparts that the TCI would like to take up the U.S. invitation to apply to join the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) before the end of July.

The CBI is a further tariff relief programme established in the 1980s that has been expanded considerably through successive U.S. legislation since 2000. At present, around half of the CARICOM countries are members of the initiative.

The CBI is the primary means by which the U.S. seeks to assist the economic development of the Caribbean by permitting duty free access to the U.S. for a broad range of products (94 categories), including manufactured goods, natural resources and agricultural produce.

“I am pleased that we have reached a swift and clear way forward for the TCI’s exporters,” said His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd. “I wish to express my gratitude to our interim Chief Economist Stephen Pollard and our Foreign and Commonwealth Office Colleagues in Washington and the U.K. for all of their expertise and assistance in quickly resolving this issue.”