The Ministry of Financial Services is working feverishly to conclude negotiations with Canada for its replacement to the CARIBCAN trade agreement by the end of June.
Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder, who also has responsible for trade, confirmed that there are still a number of outstanding issues that need to be negotiated between The Bahamas and Canada, particularly as it relates to tariff rates.
It's no secret that the financial services minister believes the expiration of this agreement has put some of the country's industries that export to Canada in a vulnerable position. He pointed out that The Bahamas exports items like salt and seafood to Canada.
"We want to have transparent trade with Canada. If our current tariff agreement, which has just expired, is not renewed then we will have challenges with respect to the duty and tariff rates of our goods going into Canada," Pinder told Guardian Business.
"We're not in the WTO, so we don't have the preference of a most favored nation (MFN) rate, which is a lower rate. We may find ourselves in a higher rate bracket that would really put some of our industries at risk. So reaching a conclusion on CARICOM-Canada trade agreements is very important to The Bahamas," he said.
"There are still some outstanding items and we look to engaging Canada again hopefully on the political level to be able to reach some resolution on outstanding matters of negotiations."
While attending CARICOM's heads of government meeting with Prime Minister Perry Christie in St. Vincent & Grenadines on Tuesday, Pinder said a presentation was made on the issue and certain directives were given.
"We have technical working groups constantly meeting and negotiating. We will have representatives at the working level in Barbados this coming week. There was a session all last week in Jamaica. So we're working around the clock to work out those outstanding issues and conclude the agreement," he said.
"With respect to investments and services, there is still some negotiating that has to be done. But we have an extension until the end of June to negotiate the replacement agreement. So we're working very hard to get it done."
He continued, "We have a significant service presence, especially in financial services but also with Canadian residents who invest in The Bahamas. Having a defined investment and trading criteria with Canada is very important," said Pinder.
According to statistics released by the Canadian government, The Bahamas exports more than $146 million worth of goods to Canada and imported over $504 million in 2012.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian