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| History | |
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The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), originally the Caribbean Community and Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas[3] which came into effect on 1 August 1973. The first four signatories were Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
CARICOM superseded the 1965–1972 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which had been organised to provide a continued economic linkage between the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean following the dissolution of the West Indies Federation which lasted from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962.
A Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas[4] establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) was signed by the CARICOM Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community on 5 July 2001 at their Twenty-Second Meeting of the Conference in Nassau, The Bahamas.
[edit] Tags:English,Revised Treaty Of Chaguaramas,Treaty Of Chaguaramas,Barbados,Jamaica,Guyana,Caribbean Free Trade Association,West Indies Federation,Bahamas,Edit,Trinidad And Tobago, | |
| Membership | |
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Currently CARICOM has 15 full members, 5 associate members and 7 observers. All of the associate members are British overseas territories, and it is currently not established what the role of the associate members will be. The observers are states which engage in at least one of CARICOM's technical committees.
CARICOM Members
Status
Name
Join date
Notes
Full member
Antigua and Barbuda
4 July 1974
Bahamas
4 July 1983
Not part of customs union
Barbados
1 August 1973
Belize
1 May 1974
Dominica
1 May 1974
Grenada
1 May 1974
Guyana
1 August 1973
Haiti
2 July 2002
Provisional membership on 4 July 1998
Jamaica
1 August 1973
Montserrat
1 May 1974
British overseas territory
Saint Kitts and Nevis
26 July 1974
Joined as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
Saint Lucia
1 May 1974
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1 May 1974
Suriname
4 July 1995
Trinidad and Tobago
1 August 1973
Associate
Anguilla
July 1999
British overseas territory
Bermuda
2 July 2003
British overseas territory
British Virgin Islands
July 1991
British overseas territory
Cayman Islands
16 May 2002
British overseas territory
Turks and Caicos Islands
July 1991
British overseas territory
Observer
Aruba
Country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Colombia
Curaçao
Country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
status unknown after dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Commonwealth of the USA
Sint Maarten
Country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
status unknown after dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
Venezuela
[edit] Tags:Suriname,Haiti,Montserrat,Saint Kitts And Nevis,Anguilla,Bermuda,British Virgin Islands,Cayman Islands,Turks And Caicos Islands,Aruba,Curaçao,Sint Maarten,Venezuela,Saint Christopher-nevis-anguilla,Dissolution Of The Netherlands Antilles,Netherlands Antilles, | |
| Anguilla | |
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In July 1999, Anguilla once again became involved with CARICOM when it gained associate membership. Before this, Anguilla had briefly been a part of CARICOM (1974–1980) as a constituent of the full member state of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.
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| Dominican Republic | |
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In 2005 the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic proposed for the second time that the government of the Dominican Republic wished to obtain full membership status in CARICOM. However, due to the sheer size of the Dominican Republic's economy and population size in comparison with the current CARICOM states and coupled with the Dominican Republic's checkered history of foreign policy solidarity with the CARICOM states it is unclear whether the CARICOM states will unanimously vote to admit the Dominican Republic as a full member into the organisation. CARICOM has been working at great pains in trying to integrate with Haiti. It has been proposed that CARICOM may deepen ties with the Dominican Republic through the auspice of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) instead, which is an organisation that stops just short of the Single market and economy which underpins CARICOM. Currently, the Dominican Republic has an unratified free trade agreement (from 2001) with CARICOM. It cooperates with CARICOM (since 1992) under an umbrella organisation, CARIFORUM, an economic pact between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic with the EU.[5] The Dominican Republic originally became an Observer of CARICOM in 1982 and in 1991 it had presented CARICOM with a request for full membership.[6]
[edit] Tags:Eu, | |
| French Caribbean Territories | |
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France administers several territories in the Caribbean that are not associated with CARICOM: Saint-Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana.
[edit] Tags:French,Saint-martin,Saint Barthélemy,Guadeloupe,Martinique,French Guiana, | |
| Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands | |
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Both Aruba and the former Netherlands Antilles have been observer members of CARICOM, but no official report has been published on the eligibility for observer membership of the Caribbean countries Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the 3 special municipalities of the Netherlands which formed after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
In 2005, the Netherlands Antilles made an official request for the status of associate membership.[7] It's unsure how the dissolution will affect requested associate membership status for both islands. Curaçao has announced that it wants to continue deepening ties with the CARICOM bloc.[8][9]
[edit] Tags:Special Municipalities, | |
| United States Virgin Islands | |
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In 2007, the U.S. Virgin Islands government announced it would begin seeking ties with CARICOM.[10] It is not clear what membership status the USVI would obtain should they join CARICOM. It is possible the USVI would obtain observer status, considering fellow U.S. Caribbean territory Puerto Rico's current observer status.
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| Haiti invasion | |
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In March 2004, tensions became strained between member-state Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean Community bloc. Democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide phoned some of the other 14 CARICOM heads of government and stated that he had been kidnapped by France and the United States and taken out of the country.[11][12] CARICOM announced that no democratically elected government in CARICOM should have its leader deposed. The 14 other heads of government sought to have Aristide visit Jamaica and share his account of events with them. This move to have Jean-Bertrand Aristide flown from Africa to Jamaica infuriated the unelected interim Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue who then announced he would be taking steps to remove Haiti from CARICOM. The CARICOM heads then announced they would be holding a vote on whether to suspend the recognition of Latortue before he could vote on Haiti leaving CARICOM. This occurred and Haitian officials became suspended partaking in the councils of CARICOM. This did not stop Latortue, who announced that he would continue a part of his plan to suspend Haiti from CARICOM.[13] Haiti's membership had been effectively suspended from 29 February 2004 through early June 2006. Following the democratic election of Haitian President René Préval, he gave the opening address at the organisation's Council of Ministers meeting in July.
[edit] Tags:René Préval, | |
| Statistics | |
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See also: Trade bloc
Population and economic statistics of full members
Member States
Land area (km2)[14]
Population[15]
GDP (PPP) Millions USD[16]
GDP Per Capita USD[17]
CARICOM
432,510
15,961,203
89,797
11,632
Antigua & Barbuda
442.6
85,632
1,646
18,585
Bahamas
10,010
342,000
9,228
27,394
Barbados
430
279,000
5,244
19,026
Belize
22,806
333,200
2,525
7,881
Dominica
751
72,660
0,720
10,045
Grenada
344
110,000
1,153
10,842
Guyana
196,849
772,298
3,082
4,035
Haiti
27,560
9,035,536
11,562
1,318
Jamaica
10,831
2,825,928
20,958
7,766
Montserrat
102
4,488
0,029
3,400
Saint Kitts and Nevis
261
42,696
0,750
14,169
Saint Lucia
606
160,765
1,839
10,819
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
389
120,000
1,086
10,150
Suriname
156,000
472,000
4,436
8,323
Trinidad and Tobago
5,128
1,305,000
27,038
20,723
Population and economic statistics of associate members
Member
Land area (km2)[14]
Population[15]
GDP (PPP) Millions USD[16]
GDP Per Capita USD[17]
Anguilla
91
13,477
0.108
8,800
Bermuda
54
67,837
5,085
91,477
British Virgin Islands
151
24,000
0.840
38,500
Cayman Islands
264
56,000
1,939
43,800
Turks and Caicos Islands
948
36,600
0.845
6,400
Population and economic statistics of observers
Member
Land area[14]
Population[15]
GDP (PPP) Millions USD[16]
GDP Per Capita USD[17]
Aruba
180
106,000
2,400
21,800
Colombia
1,109,104
44,928,970
396,579
8,400
Curaçao
444
142,180
2,914
20,567
Dominican Republic
48,320
9,523,209
76,304
8,570
Mexico
1,943,945
111,211,789
1,548,007
14,560
Puerto Rico
8,870
3,994,259
77.400
19,600
Sint Maarten
34
37,429
0.400
11,400
Venezuela
882,050
28,199,825
358,623
12,785
Under Article 4 the CARICOM organisation breaks its 15 member states into two groups: Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and More Developed Countries (MDCs).[4]
The countries of CARICOM which are designated as Less Developed Countries (LDCs) are:
Antigua & Barbuda
Belize
Commonwealth of Dominica
Grenada
Republic of Haiti
Montserrat
Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
The countries of CARICOM which are designated as More Developed Countries (MDCs) are:
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Barbados
Co-operative Republic of Guyana
Jamaica
Republic of Suriname
Republic of Trinidad & Tobago
[edit] Tags:109,Trade Bloc,Gdp,Ppp, | |
| Secretariat | |
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Secretariat of the Caribbean Community, The term of office of the Secretary-General is 5 years, which may be renewed. (Chief Administrative Organ)
Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, the CARICOM Secretary General (Chief Executive) handles Foreign and Community Relations.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, handles Human and Social Development.
General Counsel of the Caribbean Community, handles Trade and Economic Integration.
The goal statement of the CARICOM Secretariat is:
To provide dynamic leadership and service, in partnership with Community institutions and Groups, toward the attainment of a viable, internationally competitive and sustainable Community, with improved quality of life for all.
[edit] Tags:Secretary-general, | |
| Chairmanship | |
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The post of Chairman (Head of CARICOM) is held in rotation by the regional Heads of State (for the republics) and Heads of Government (for the realms) of CARICOM's 15 member states.
[edit] Tags:Chairman, | |
| CARICOM Heads of Government | |
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CARICOM contains a quasi-Cabinet of the individual Heads of Government. These heads are given specific specialised portfolios of responsibility for overall regional development and integration.[19]
[edit] Tags: | |
| Caribbean Community organs and bodies | |
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Principal organs
Organ
Description
CARICOM Heads of Government
Consisting of the various heads of Government from each member state
Standing Committee of Ministers
Ministerial responsibilities for specific areas, for example the Standing Committee of Ministers responsible for Health will consist of Ministers of Health from each member state
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| Community Council | |
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The Council consists of Ministers responsible for Community Affairs and any other Minister designated by the Member States in their absolute discretion. It is one of the principal organs (the other being the Conference of the Heads of Government) and is supported by four other organs and three bodies.
Secondary organs
Secondary organ
Abbreviation
Council for Finance and Planning
COFAP
Council for Foreign and Community Relations
COFCOR
Council for Human and Social Development
COHSOD
Council for Trade and Economic Development
COTED
Bodies
Body
Description
Legal Affairs Committee
provides legal advice to the organs and bodies of the Community
Budget Committee
examines the draft budget and work programme of the Secretariat and submits recommendations to the Community Council.
Committee of the Central Bank Governors
provides recommendations to the COFAP on monetary and financial matters.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Caribbean Community institutions | |
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The twenty designated institutions of CARICOM are as follows:
Institutions
Institution
Abbreviation
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency
CDERA
Caribbean Meteorological Institute
CMI
Caribbean Meteorological Organisation
CMO
Caribbean Food Corporation
CFC
Caribbean Environment Health Institute
CEHI
Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute
CARDI
Caribbean Regional Centre for the Education and training of Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Assistants
REPAHA
Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians
ACCP
Caribbean Centre for Development Administration
CARICAD
Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute
CFNI
Caribbean Examinations Council
CXC
CARICOM Single Market and Economy
CSME
Caribbean Court of Justice
CCJ
CARICOM Competition Commission
CCC
Caribbean Regional Information and Translation Institute
CRITI
The Caribbean Court of Justice will act in its "original jurisdiction", as settlement unit for disputes on the functioning of the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME). Additionally the states of CARICOM voted to supplement original jurisdiction with "appellate jurisdiction" under this the former colonies of the United Kingdom will have effectively replaced the Privy Council in London, United Kingdom with the CCJ.
The CCJ is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The majority of member states however, continue to utilize the Privy Council as their final appellate court and three member states do not use the CCJ for either its original jurisdiction or its appellate jurisdiction because they have either not signed the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (the Bahamas and Haiti) or are a current British colony (Montserrat).
[edit] Tags:Caribbean Court Of Justice, | |
| Associate institutions | |
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The five designated associate institutions of CARICOM are as follows:
Associate institutions
Associate institution
Abbreviation
Caribbean Development Bank
CDB
University of Guyana
UG
University of the West Indies
UWI
Caribbean Law Institute / Caribbean Law Institute Centre
CLI / CLIC
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
OECS
[edit] Tags: | |
| Single market and economy | |
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CARICOM members part of CSM
CARICOM members not part of CSM
CARICOM associate members
Three countries—Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago—had originally set 5 January 2005 as the date of signing the agreement relating to the (CSME). The ceremony had then been rescheduled[why?] to coincide with the 19 February 2005 inauguration of the new CARICOM-headquarters building in Georgetown, Guyana, but this was later postponed after a ruling[which?] by the London Privy council caused alarm to several Caribbean countries.
The prospect was that ten of the remaining twelve CARICOM countries would join the CSME by the end of 2005. The Bahamas and Haiti were not expected to be a part of the new economic arrangement at that time. The CARICOM Secretariat maintains frequent contact with another organisation named the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which represents seven Full members and two Associate members of CARICOM in the Eastern Caribbean. Many of the OECS countries are seeking to maintain themselves as a micro-economic grouping within CARICOM.
The CARICOM Single Market and Economy treaty finally went into effect on 1 January 2006, with Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago as the first full members. On 3 July 2006, the total membership was brought up to twelve when Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines became full members. The British overseas territory of Montserrat is seeking permission from the United Kingdom to become a part of the single market; Haiti will not join the market initially because of its difficult internal political situation; and the Bahamas will not join because of local opposition to a provision that allows skilled workers to move more easily among nations.
[edit] Tags:Georgetown, | |
| Common passport | |
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Main article: Caribbean passport
Cover of a Trinidad and Tobago Machine Readable (and Caricom) Passport issued in 2007
Members with common passport implemented
Members without common passport
Associate members
As of early 2009 twelve Member States have introduced CARICOM passports. These states are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.[20][21][22] CARICOM members yet to issue the common passports are Bahamas, Montserrat and Haiti. Citizens of Montserrat are citizens of the United Kingdom, so it is unlikely that the common passport will be introduced there.
The CARICOM passport creates awareness that CARICOM nationals are nationals of the Community, as well as a specific country.
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| Visa and the Single Domestic Space in 2006 | |
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During the July 2006 CARICOM Summit, the various leaders reached an agreement on measures to ensure hassle-free movement for visitors to the 2007 Cricket World Cup, as well intelligence sharing and cooperation for the security of the event.[23] People were originally to be able to travel amongst the nine host countries and Dominica between 15 January 2007 and 15 May 2007 using a single CARICOM visa.[24] However, during a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on 29 December 2006, the Heads of Government decided to push back the creation of the Single Domestic Space to 1 February 2007 in response to representation from tourism ministers and others involved in the tourism industry.[25][26]
Cruise ship passengers not staying more than 24 hours at any of the 10 Caribbean countries were issued with a CARICOM day pass. However, those who were staying on cruise ships, dubbed "floating hotels" for the duration of the games, were required to obtain a visa unless their countries fell within those that are exempted.[27] Visa abolition agreements between some of the ten Caribbean states concerned and countries whose citizens were then required to obtain CARICOM visas during the Cricket World Cup provided for the suspension of the visa-free policy in such cases.[27]
During the three and a half month period from February to May, the ten Caribbean countries became a "single domestic space"[28] in which travellers only had their passport stamped and had to submit completed entry and departure forms at the first port and country of entry. The entry and departure forms were also standardised for all ten countries.[29] When continuing travel throughout the Single Domestic Space, persons (including those using the common visa) were not required to have their documents processed to clear customs and immigration and did not need to have their passports stamped, but still needed to travel with them.[23] Once passengers arrived at the Immigration Department Desk at the first port of entry, they were provided with a blue CARICOM wristband that identified them for hassle free movement through the single domestic space.[30][31][32]
When the single domestic space came to an end on 15 May 2007 nearly 45,000 visas had been issued.[33]
In February 2007 the CARICOM Heads of Government agreed to set up a Task Force to recommend a revised CARICOM Special Visa for the future, making any changes necessary from the experiences of the 3 month Single Domestic Space.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Travel card | |
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Main article: CARIPASS
At the 28th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference[34] in Barbados it was agreed to implement a CARICOM travel card that will be issued to every CARICOM national except those on the Community's watch list. An implementation plan for the document will be put together and submitted to the Heads at the next inter-sessional meeting to be held in September. The card will virtually maintain the ‘single domestic space’ and holders will not need a passport, during inter-community travel.[35] The card will also allow a CARICOM national an automatic six-month stay in any territory within the bloc.[36] It is not expected to affect the security of the member countries, as any holder will be deported if he or she breaks the la Tags: | |
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