The Sherbourne declaration on global tax cooperation

We, the Heads of Government, Ministers of Finance, Attorneys-General, Ministers of Government and Senior Officials of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Commonwealth of Dominica, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Grenada, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, the Federation of Malaysia, Malta, the Republic of Mauritius, the United Mexican States, the Republic of Namibia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, Niue, St. Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Republic of Seychelles, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Tonga, Turks and Caicos, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Republic of Vanuatu have met in spirit of co-operation and constructive engagement in Bridgetown, Barbados, from January 8 to 9, 2001, to initiate multilateral consultations on the OECD's Harmful Tax Competition Initiative, with a view to finding common ground for guiding global tax co-operation in the International Financial Services sector.

Our exchanges have led to a clearer understanding of the concerns of all interested parties, which is reflected in our consensus on the following shared principles.

I - Fiscal Sovereignty and Taxation Rights:

Believing that shared principles and perspectives do not abrogate the immutability of each state's sovereignty, we agree that:

All countries, regardless of physical and economic size, have as a sovereign right the freedom to decide on rational tax policies, to determine their tax systems and structures and to set the level of their taxes.

All countries have the right to compete in international financial markets through the provision of both domestic and international financial services.

Any rules and standards for co-operation on international tax matters should be implemented in a fair, effective and transparent manner.

Emerging financial centres should not be required to adhere to standards and practices higher than those subscribed to by traditional financial centres.

Assistance should be made available to countries that require it, to enhance their standards in tax and related areas.

Such assistance should be structured to reflect the differing levels of administrative capacity in each country.

Any State requesting information in accordance with an internationally agreed arrangement should compensate the State providing the information for the cost of so doing.


IV - Next Steps: Building Confidence on a Shared Perspective:

Recognizing that in a global society problems, which are global in character, must be resolved by multilateral dialogue, and recognizing that these High Level Consultations represent a first and crucial step in the process towards enhanced global tax co-operation, we agree that:

Our government will continue the consultations in the positive spirit in which it has begun and will work towards the creation of a Multilateral Forum for dialogue, consultation, and decision-making on Global Tax Co-operation.

The Forum will represent our commitment to foster confidence and consensus building, using the shared principles established today as a basis for the further development of a comprehensive approach to Global Tax Co-operation, including the early negotiation and conclusion of an appropriate International Convention.

To this end, we will establish a Task Force from among the participants at these Consultations, giving due regard to equitable geographical and institutional representation.

The Task Force will convene at the earliest possible opportunity to examine and recommend on the modalities for the operation of the proposed Multilateral Forum and the administrative structure that will support it, drawing upon the already existing institutional capacity of the Secretariats of the Commonwealth, the OECD, CARICOM and the South Pacific Forum.

The positive achievements of these Consultations and the common understanding attained have demonstrated the will of our governments to seek collective and mutually acceptable solutions to any outstanding areas of difference through dialogue and consultation.


Submitted by the Delegations of the Caribbean
January 9, 2001

<<< Back to news