The International Trade and Investment Organization (ITIO) #1

About the ITIO:

The International Trade & Investment Organization (ITIO) represents small and developing countries across Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Pacific and Asia.

We work for a level playing field in the trade in services.We believe that all countries should be involved equally in developing new rules that affect them and should implement these rules to the same timetable, with the same penalties for non-compliance.

Aims:

The ITIO works for a level playing field in the trade in services, particularly in the development and implementation of new regulatory standards.

This includes, but extends beyond, taxation issues and entails dealing with a wide range of international bodies.

The ITIO is unique among groupings of small and developing economies, being funded entirely by members, which gives it total independence.

It seeks to take account of members' varying needs and stages of development and to produce results that are of benefit to all.

The ITIO works in partnership with the private sector where appropriate.

Live Issues:

Principles of a level playing field

Harmful tax practices

The misuse of corporate vehicles

There is a genuine need to combat the abuse of financial systems. The constant threat of terrorism and ongoing exposure of corporate scandals show this.

But action must be based on facts and fairness, not prejudice and preferential treatment.

If criminals are to be tackled effectively, international financial regulation must operate according to the principles of a level playing field.

Small countries with offshore finance centres are concerned at the behaviour of large, developed countries and of the supranational bodies they control, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF)

These too often seek to dictate terms to non-members while treating lightly or overlooking problems in their member countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Delaware and Nevada in the USA.

The OECD has been particularly guilty of this as it tackles harmful tax practices and the misuse of corporate entities.

Reports and Key Documents:

Paper by James Hines of the University of Michigan titled "Do Tax Havens Flourish?", October 2004

"Remodelling the Competition for Capital: How Domestic Politics Erases the Race to the Bottom" - an article in the American Political Science Review by Scott Basinger and Mark Hallerberg, May 2004

Rachel Griffith and Alexander Clemm of the Institute for Fiscal Studies report titled "What has been the Tax Competition Experience of the Last 20 Years?", February 2004

"The Benefits of Tax Competition" - a paper by Richard Teather of the Institute of Economic Affairs, 2005

Yesim Yilmaz paper for Prosperitas titled "Tax Havens, Tax Competition and Economic Performance", June 2006

Marshall Langer, writing in Tax Notes International on "The Outrageous History of Caribbean Tax Treaties with OECD Member States", June 2002

"Offshore Financial Centres: the Supranational Initiatives" - an article by Richard Hay

Louise Mitchell presentation to the Euromoney Annual Offshore Seminar titled "Reviewing the OECD Harmful Tax Initiative:  the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Perspective", May 2005

Global Transparency, Exchange of Tax Information and Small Nations – Much Has Been Done, But More Needed to Ensure a Level Playing Field 26 May 2006

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Paper by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum Melbourne, 15 - 16 November 2005

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Proposal by the International Trade and Investment Organization OECD Global Tax Forum, Ottawa, 14-15 October 2003

Closing statement by the Co-Chairs: OECD Global Forum on Taxation, Ottawa, 14-15 October 2003
Levelling the Playing Field: ITIO paper tabled at OECD Global Forum on Taxation, 14-15 October 2003

Agenda for OECD Global Forum on Taxation , 14-15 October 2003

Towards a Level Playing Field - Second Edition

ITIO letter to OECD asking for commitment to level playing field, 12 February 2002The 17 fundamental clarifications sought from the OECD on 28 February 2001

LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE, NEW ANALYSIS OF OECD DATA REVEALS “End stigmatisation and let us into treaty network”, say small countries Commonwealth calls for fair play Towards a Level Playing Field, second edition. Report undertaken by Stikeman Elliott on behalf of the ITIO and STEP.

MEMBERS

From an initial 12 members in March 2001, the ITIO now comprises 17 small and developing states as follows:

Caribbean Anguilla Antigua & Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands St Kitts & Nevis St Lucia St Vincent & the Grenadines Turks & Caicos  Latin America Panama  Pacific Cook Islands Samoa Vanuatu

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OBSERVERS

International	Commonwealth Secretariat
Caribbean	CARICOM Secretariat
	Caribbean Development Bank
	Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
Pacific	Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat