Exporting to CARICOM

Exporting to CARICOM | Guidance and support

  1. Exporters wishing to export within CARICOM must first have their product(s) certified by Export Barbados (Barbados Investment and Development Corporation) by first completing the Application for Certification which can be downloaded in order to gain duty access.  
  2. The Application is then brought to our headquarters where the certification officer will examine to ensure that all the information required and any attachments needed are included.
  3. After the application is satisfactorily reviewed, the exporter’s company is visited by the Certification Officer to observe the manufacturing process, in an effort to confirm that the information submitted is correct and that the Rules of Origin criteria for the particular product (s) are met:

    1. Wholly produced within the Community (CARICOM)
    2. Change in tariff heading i.e. materials imported within the Community or from outside used in the final production of the product effects a process of substantial transformation, and is classified in a different tariff heading from that of the final product.  
    3. Product Specific Rule – where the final product is to be either produced from materials of a specific tariff heading from within CARICOM or not produced from materials within a specific tariff heading.
    4. Percentage of Value-Added condition – where the value of extra-regional materials used in the manufacturing process do not exceed a certain percentage (i.e. 50%) of the final export price as stipulated in the Rules of Origin for the particular product.
  1. If the manufacturing process of the product(s) meets the Rules of Origin criteria, an official letter is issued from the Certification Department to the company, stating the approval and the relevant tariff numbers for the product(s).
  2. When the exporter is ready to ship a Commercial Invoice and a CARICOM Certificate of Origin which can also be downloaded from the Export Barbados (BIDC)’s website must be completed to accompany each shipment.  A minimum of four (4) copies and maximum of eight (8) should be presented to the Certification Officer to be reviewed and then stamped to be taken to the Customs Department.
  3. The purpose of the mentioned certificates is to provide pre-shipment confirmation of the status of a particular aspect of the cargo i.e. health, value, condition, origin, etc., and that the cargo complies with the requirements of the importing authorities.

Download Export Certification Forms