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Caribbean Community

(Redirected from CARICOM)

Caribbean Community and Common Market
Caribbean Community:Flag of the CARICOM
Caribbean Community:Map of CARICOM
Membership 15 members 1
5 associate members 2
7 observers 3
Official Languages English 4
Seat of Secretariat Georgetown, Guyana
Secretary-General Edwin W. Carrington (since 1992)
Currencies Bahamian dollar (BSD or BS$)

Barbados dollar (BBD or Bds$)
Belize dollar (BZD or BZ$)
East Caribbean dollar (XCD or EC$)5
Guyanese dollar (GYD or GY$)
Haitian gourde (HTG or G)
Jamaican dollar (JMD or J$/JA$)
Suriname dollar (SRD or SR$)
Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD or TT$)

Official website http://www.caricom.org
1 14 independent states, 1 dependent territory

2 5 dependent territories
3 4 independent states, 3 dependent territories
4 unofficialy also Dutch, French and Haitian Creole
5 used by the OECS members

The Caribbean Community and Common Market or CARICOM was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas[1] which came into effect on August 1, 1973. The first four signatories were Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

CARICOM replaced the 1965–1972 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which had been organized 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 January 3, 1958 to May 31, 1962.

A Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas[2] establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) was signed by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community on July 5 2001 at their Twenty-Second Meeting of the Conference in Nassau, The Bahamas.


Contents

Overview

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has become unofficially multilingual in practice with the addition of Dutch-speaking Suriname on July 4 1995 and Haiti, where French and Haitian Creole are spoken, on July 2 2002.

In 2001, the heads of government signed a Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas thus clearing the way for the transformation of the Common Market aspect of CARICOM. Part of the revised treaty includes the establishment and implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Membership

Caribbean Community:Caricom members and observers ██ full members ██ associate members ██ observers
Caricom members and observers
██ full members ██ associate members ██ observers

Currently CARICOM has 15 full members:

There are five associate members:

(2 July 2003)

There are seven observers:

From March 2004, Haiti's participation in CARICOM was suspended by its interim Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue in response to the visit of Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the ousted President) to Jamaica.[3] Haiti's membership had been effectively suspended though since February 29, 2004 as CARICOM refused to recognize the new interim government. In early June 2006, Haiti was readmitted as a full member of the CARICOM, and Haitian President René Préval gave the opening address at the organization's Council of Ministers meeting in July.

In July 1999, Anguilla once again became involved with CARICOM when it gained associate membership. Prior to this, Anguilla had briefly been a part of CARICOM (1974-1980) as a constituent of the full member state of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.

In 2005 the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic had proposed seeking to obtain full membership status in CARICOM for his country (for the second time); 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 organization. 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 proposed political integration which will underpin CARICOM at a later date. Currently, the Dominican Republic also has a free trade agreement (from 2001) with CARICOM and also cooperates with CARICOM (since 1992) under the umbrella organization, Cariforum, in economic negotiations with the EU.[4] The Dominican Republic originally became an Observer of CARICOM in 1982 and in 1991 it had presented CARICOM with a request for full membership.[5]

Also in 2005, the Netherlands Antilles made an official request for the status of associate membership.[6] It is not known how the future dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles will affect the current observer status or the requested associate membership status of the islands, such as Sint Maarten, in the future though Curaçao has announced [1], [2] it wants to continue deepening ties with the CARICOM bloc.

See also: Trade bloc

Structure

After the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, CARICOM reorganised itself into a state like Government structure made up of the following branches:

The Executive

Comprising of a rotating prime ministerial Chairmanship of CARICOM (Head of CARICOM), the CARICOM Secretary General (Chief Executive) and the CARICOM Headquarters secretariat (Chief Administrative Organ). There is also a quasi Cabinet of individual Heads of Government who are given specific responsibility or portfolios for overall regional development and integration.[7]

The Legislative

The Community Council: 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 the principal organs (the other being the Conference of the Heads of Government) and is supported by four other organs and three bodies.

Supporting Organs

Supporting Bodies

The Judiciary

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will act as the original jurisdiction for settlement of disputes on the functioning of the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME), as well as serving as an appellate court of last resort for member states which have severed their country's ties with the Privy Council in London, United Kingdom. The CCJ is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Caribbean Community organs and bodies

Structures that comprise the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Secretariat

The Secretariat is located in Georgetown, Guyana.

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."

Caribbean Community Institutions

Associate Institutions

Secondary organs

Other bodies

CARICOM projects

CARICOM Single Market and Economy

Three countries: Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago had originally set January 5 2005 as the date of signing the agreement relating to the (CSME), the ceremony had then been rescheduled to coincide with the February 19, 2005 inauguration of the new CARICOM-headquarters building in Georgetown, Guyana. But this was later postponed after a ruling 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 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 the 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.

The CARICOM Common Passport

On Friday, January 7, 2005, the Republic of Suriname became the first full member state to officially launch the new bloc "CARICOM Passport". The new passports boast having better security and are also machine-readable. The full member states of the Caribbean Community had agreed to establish a common passport in order to make intra-regional and international travel easier for their citizens. The passports are also thought to save additional costs for member states by using a similar cover design, the designs will also follow newly updated international standards on Passport design.

The second state that released the national CARICOM passport was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: SVG began issuing the new CARICOM passports around April 2005. On 25 October 2005, St. Kitts and Nevis became the third CARICOM member state to bring the CARICOM passport into operation, making good on its promise to launch it before the end of the year and began Issuance of the document to its citizens on 14 November 2005.[8]

Antigua and Barbuda had announced that it would begin using the new CARICOM passport format by the middle of 2005.

Currently (as of mid-2006) five Member States have introduced CARICOM passports. These states are Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbduda.[9]

The CARICOM passport creates awareness that CARICOM nationals are nationals of the Community, as well as a specific country.

The expectation is that all the member states will have introduced the CARICOM passport by 2008 when the stock of their old passports is depleted.

Belize is to introduce the passport after its current stock is depleted.

Jamaica is expected to institute the passport by January 2007, having recently upgraded its passport to a machine-readable state.

St. Lucia has also proposed introducing the common passport in early 2007.

Grenada planned to begin issuing the common passport in mid-2006 while Barbados had planned to switch to the common format by late 2006.[10]

The Co-operative Republic of Guyana had also announced that it would begin to use the new CARICOM passport format by the middle of 2005, but the introduction was delayed and the new target date is July 2006.

Trinidad and Tobago had announced that it would begin to issue the new CARICOM passport in June 2006, but has now indicated that they will now introduce the passport in July 2006 along with Guyana.[11]

Passport designs

The three colours of the new passports are:

In the case of Suriname, the Passport is adorned with the national symbols for the Republic of Suriname, as well as the CARICOM insignia on its cover. President of the Republic of Suriname Ronald Venetiaan received the first of these new CARICOM passports.

Antigua and Barbuda's design is to feature the country's Coat of Arms and country name as well as the CARICOM logo.

The passports for Suriname were created by the Canadian Banknote Company Ltd. (CBN) Under a five-year programme with a price tag of US$1.5 million. It is believed other member states of CARICOM will now soon follow with the introduction of their own branded version of the national 'CARICOM' Passport.

CARICOM Visa and the Single Domestic Space

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.[12] People will be able to travel amongst the nine host countries and Dominica between January 15, 2007 and May 15, 2007 using a single CARICOM visa.[13] The common CARICOM visa will be applicable to the nationals of 46 countries.[14] The (CARICOM) visas were to have been issued from August 15, 2006, but will now be issued in early November 2006[15] and are to be issued by three CARICOM states (Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago[16]). For countries that have no Caribbean representatives, the CARICOM visa will be issued by the UK.[17] During the 5 month period from January to May, the ten Caribbean countries will become a “single domestic space”[18] in which travellers will only have their passport stamped and have to submit completed entry and departure forms at the first port and country of entry. The entry and departure forms will also be standardised for all ten countries.[19] When continuing travel throughout the Single Domestic Space, persons (including those using the common visa) will not be required to have their documents processed to clear customs and immigration and will not have their passports stamped, but would still need to travel with them.[20]

Future proposals

Free trade

From around the year 2000, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states have placed a new focus and emphasis on establishing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with local and international trading partners. This is particially done in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).

Preferential agreements
Free Trade Agreements
Proposed

Note that the on-going negotiations with the EU over an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) involves all the CARICOM Member States (except Montserrat, which is not independent) plus the Dominican Republic grouped under the Caribbean Forum or CARIFORUM sub-grouping of the ACP countries. At the end of these negotiations (begun in 2002 and due to end in 2007) there will be a new Free Trade Agreement that will replace the Lomé system of preferential access to the European market for the ACP from 2008.[21]

Comparison with other regional blocs

Note: It must be noted that The European Union (EU) is not simply a regional bloc in the common sense. The EU is a Union of sovereign States with the deepest connections in the political, economical and executive fields. Thus, it is a far more integrated bloc than any other regional bloc or cooperative association of sovereign States in the world.

Most active regional blocs
Regional
bloc 1		 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
states 1
in millions per capita
EU* 3,977,487 460,124,266 11,723,816 25,480 25
CARICOM 462,344 14,565,083 64,219 4,409 14+1 3
ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15
CEMAC 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6
EAC 1,763,777 97,865,428 104,239 1,065 3
CSN 17,339,153 370,158,470 2,868,430 7,749 10
GCC 2,285,844 35,869,438 536,223 14,949 6
SACU 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5
COMESA 3,779,427 118,950,321 141,962 1,193 5
NAFTA 21,588,638 430,495,039 12,889,900 29,942 3
ASEAN 4,400,000 553,900,000 2,172,000 4,044 10
SAARC 5,136,740 1,467,255,669 4,074,031 2,777 8
Agadir 1,703,910 126,066,286 513,674 4,075 4
EurAsEC 20,789,100 208,067,618 1,689,137 8,118 6
CACM 422,614 37,816,598 159,536 4,219 5
PARTA 528,151 7,810,905 23,074 2,954 12+2 3
Reference
blocs and
countries 2		 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Political
divisions
in millions per capita
UN 133,178,011 6,411,682,270 55,167,630 8,604 192
Canada 9,984,670 32,507,874 1,077,000 34,273 13
China (PRC) 4 9,596,960 1,306,847,624 8,182,000 6,300 33
India 3,287,590 1,102,600,000 3,433,000 3,100 35
Japan 377,835 127,333,002 3,910,728 30,615 47
Russia 17,075,200 143,782,338 1,589,000 8,900 89
USA 9,631,418 296,900,571 11,190,000 39,100 50
1 Including data only for full and most active members

2 The first two states in the World by area, population and GDP (PPP)
3 Including non-sovereign autonomous entities of other states
4 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau and
regions administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan).
* Although the European Union is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more
than a free-trade association or an ordinary regional bloc, and it has many of the
attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, central bank,
currency, elected parliament, supreme court and common foreign and security policy.
</center>██ smallest value among the blocs compared██ largest value among the blocs compared

During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database

This box: view •  • edit</div>


CSME

References

  1. ^ Treaty of Chaguaramas
  2. ^ Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas
  3. ^ Haiti suspends ties with CARICOM
  4. ^ The EU and Cariforum
  5. ^ Dominican Republic in CARICOM?
  6. ^ Netherlands Antilles policy towards the Caribbean is one of committed neighbour
  7. ^ Regoinal Portfolios of CARICOM Heads of Government
  8. ^ St. Kitts and Nevis launches CARICOM passport
  9. ^ Lesser Known Facts about the CSM
  10. ^ Establishment of CSME: Summary of status of key elements
  11. ^ Lesser Known Facts about the CSM
  12. ^ Freedom of Movement during Cricket World Cup
  13. ^ CARICOM’s historic steps towards integration
  14. ^ Hassle-free movement for CWC 2007 travellers.
  15. ^ Caricom visa soon CBC.bb - click video link
  16. ^ Caricom visa soon CBC.bb - click video link
  17. ^ Mega-security plan for Cricket World Cup ‘07
  18. ^ Hassle-free movement for CWC 2007 travellers.
  19. ^ Mega-security plan for Cricket World Cup ‘07
  20. ^ Freedom of Movement during Cricket World Cup
  21. ^ Economic Partnership Agreements

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Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Caribbean Community:Flag of the Caribbean Community

Antigua and Barbuda • Bahamas¹ • Barbados • Belize • Dominica • Grenada • Guyana • Haiti¹ • Jamaica • Montserrat² • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Suriname • Trinidad and Tobago

Associate members: Anguilla • Bermuda • Cayman Islands • British Virgin Islands • Turks and Caicos Islands

Observer status: Aruba • Colombia • Dominican Republic • Mexico • Netherlands Antilles • Puerto Rico • Venezuela


¹ member of the community but not the CARICOM (Caribbean) Single Market and Economy
² territory of the United Kingdom awaiting British instruments of entrustment to join the CSME

Categories


CARICOM | International organizations | Trade blocs | 1973 establishments

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