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With a population of roughly 13
million inhabitants and a total GDP figure of about US$ 49
billion, CARICOM is the smallest of the regional groups in the
Western Hemisphere but with 15 member states, it is also the
regional arrangement with the largest membership in the
hemisphere.
The seed of the
integration process was planted with the creation of the West
Indies Federation which comprised 10 member states which were
all still British Colonies. However, despite the best of
intentions, the West Indies Federation did not foster any real
economic growth or any free trade among the member countries.
It thus came to an end in 1962.
Seeing the need to
put more focus on regional economic cooperation, the Heads of
Government of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados and Guyana signed the
agreement establishing the Caribbean Free Trade Association
(CARIFTA) in December of 1965. CARIFTA did not actually get
started until 1968 when Jamaica, the Leeward and Windward
Islands and Trinidad & Tobago joined at the Fourth Heads of
Government meeting. At this point, it was also agreed that the
Free Trade Association would be the beginning of the Caribbean
Common Market which would be established to achieve a "viable
Economic Community of Caribbean Territories. "
Emerging also from
the 1967 Heads of Government Conference was the establishment of
the Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Secretariat on May 1, 1968
in Georgetown Guyana and of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
in October 1969 in Bridgetown, Barbados.
It was at the
Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October 1972, that the
Caribbean Leaders decided to transform CARIFTA into a Common
Market and establish the Caribbean Community of which the Common
Market would be an integral part.
The Caribbean
Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was established by the
Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was signed by Barbados, Jamaica,
Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago and came into effect on August 1,
1973. The other eight Caribbean territories joined CARICOM soon
after. The Bahamas became the 13th Member State of the Community
on July 4, 1983.
The British Virgin
Islands and the Turks and Caicos became Associated Members in
July 1991. Twelve other States from Latin America and the
Caribbean enjoy Observer Status in various Institutions of the
Community and CARICOM Ministerial bodies. Suriname became the
14th Member State of the Caribbean Community in July 1995 and
Haiti was formally admitted to the body at the Eighteenth
Conference of Heads of Governments in July 1997.
Parallel to broader
integration initiatives, there was also a move for sub-regional
integration in the Eastern Caribbean. In 1967, the government of
the UK granted extended autonomy to six of these as West Indies
Associate States. These were Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and
the Grenadines. This was followed by the creation of the Eastern
Caribbean Common Market (ECCM) in 1968.
The Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States (0ECS) came into being on June 18th
1981, with the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre agreeing to
foster economic cooperation and promote unity and solidarity
among the Members.
The 0ECS is now a
nine member grouping comprising Antigua and Barbuda,
Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and
Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Anguilla and
the British Virgin Islands are associate members of the 0ECS.
OECS countries have
achieved respectable levels of integration, reflected through
their common monetary policy and currency, governed by the
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), and common foreign and
security policies.
The three main
objectives of CARICOM are: economic integration, functional
(non-economic) cooperation and the coordination of foreign
policy.
Regional Negotiating Machinery
The Caribbean
Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) was created by CARICOM
Governments in 1997 to develop and execute an overall
negotiating strategy for various trade-related negotiations in
which the region is involved such as the WTO, FTAA and ACP. The
RNM's main objective is to provide CARICOM countries with the
ability to successfully mobilize and combine their human and
financial resources to effectively participate in, and
negotiate, multilateral, regional and bilateral trade and
economic initiatives. The professional core staff of the RNM
comprises: The Chief Negotiator, Chief Technical Adviser, Lead
Technical Adviser and a small team of Technical Advisers. Like
the Andean Community and MERCOSUR, CARICOM speaks with a single
voice at the FTAA negotiations though when reaching consensus
each member country's vote is counted individually.
Member States:
Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and
Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago
For additional
information please visit the CARICOM Secretariat website at
www.caricom.org.
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