St. Vincent and the Grenadines Double Tax Treaties
St. Vincent and The Grenadines (SVG) does not
participate in a network of Double Taxation
Treaties but has signed more than 20 Tax Information
Exchange Agreements since September, 2009, when
it was placed on the 'grey list' by the OECD.
Inclusion in the 'white list' was achieved on
March 24, 2010, after the signing of six TIEAs
with the Nordic countries, bringing the total
number of TIEAs to 12. See below regarding the
impact of the Exchange of Information
Act 2002.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Other International Agreements
SVG benefits from duty free concessions on exports
to the countries which are signatories to the
following agreements:
SVG has also signed agreements with the Republic
of Venezuela, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic
of Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Until
2002, SVG maintained a strict confidentiality
regime under the Confidential Relationship Preservation
(International Finance) Act, 1996, but this
was repealed and replaced by the Exchange
of Information Act, 2002. This new Act allowed
for the exchange or disclosure of information
between local regulators and foreign (statutory)
regulatory authorities, although it contained
an exemption for professional privilege. This
law was repealed and replaced by the Exchange
of Information Act, 2008.
In December, 2003, St Vincent and the Grenadines
was one of a group of Caribbean countries which
signed up to a new agreement on intellectual
property development. Following the WIPO Ministerial
Level Meeting on Intellectual Property for Caribbean
Countries, which was organized in conjunction
with the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs
in Antigua and Barbuda, and held at St John's
on November 28 and 29 of that year, it was revealed
that Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica,
Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia,
St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Republic
of Trinidad and Tobago all signed the multilateral
agreement.
According
to WIPO: "The agreement establishes the
terms of a project that is designed to support
a more effective integration of the region into
the global economy by fostering technological
innovation, creativity and competitiveness through
intensive and effective mobilization and use
of intellectual property."
During
a tour of the region in July 2007, Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans
to begin free trade negotiations with the Caribbean
Community countries, as part of efforts to bolster
investment and trade links with the region.
"One
of the key purposes of my visit here is to launch
free trade negotiations between Canada and our
CARICOM (Caribbean Community) partners. A free
trade agreement would complement and help further
develop the regional cooperation that you are
already taking," Harper said in a speech
in Bridgetown, Barbados. Canada exported CAN1.4
billion worth of goods to the Caribbean Community
in 2009.
The
first round of negotiations took place in November,
2009 and a second successful round followed
in March, 2010.
Caribbean
leaders decided at the 28th CARICOM Summit in
Barbados in 2006 that the Caribbean Single Economy
should be fully operational by 2015. The first
stage of the CSME was implemented in 2008, but
amounted to little more than the introduction
of a limited degree of free movement of CSME
nationals within the area. The timing of even
a limited degree of economic unification remains
unclear.
Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname
and Trinidad and Tobago have launched a localized
version of the CSME, while the OECS states,
including Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, BVI,
Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Lucia, St
Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines
signalled their intention to form their own
economic union, as well as committing to membership
of the CSME.
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