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Caribbean Community Communauté caribéenne  (French) Caribische Gemeenschap  (Dutch) Comunidad del Caribe  (Spanish)
Flag
Anthem: Celebrating CARICOM
Dark green: Full CARICOM members. Lime green: Associate CARICOM members. Pistachio: Observers.
Seat of Secretariat	Georgetown, Guyana
Largest cities	In full member states: Port-au-Prince, Haiti In all member states: Mexico City, Mexico
Official languages	English, French, Dutch, Spanish
Working language	English
Type	Supranational organisation
Member states	15 full members  Antigua and Barbuda  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Dominica  Grenada  Guyana  Haiti  Jamaica  Montserrat  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and Grenadines  Suriname  Trinidad and Tobago 5 associates  Anguilla  Bermuda  British Virgin Islands  Cayman Islands  Turks and Caicos Islands 8 observers  Aruba  Colombia  Curaçao  Dominican Republic  Mexico  Puerto Rico  Sint Maarten  Venezuela
Leaders
• Chairman[1]	Andrew Holness
• Secretary-General	Irwin LaRocque
Establishment
• Treaty of Chaguaramas	4 July 1973
• Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas	2001
Area
• Total	458,480 km2 (177,020 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 estimate	18,095,201[2]
• Density	34.8/km2 (90.1/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2017 estimate
• Total	$135.1 billion
• Per capita	$7,464.09
GDP (nominal)	2017 estimate
• Total	$72.188 billion
• Per capita	$3,989 (67)
HDI (2018)	0.730[3] high
Currency	Bahamian dollar (BSD) Barbadian dollar (BBD) Belize dollar (BZD) Bermudian dollar (BMD) Cayman Islands dollar (KYD) Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD) Guyanese dollar (GYD) Haitian gourde (HTG) Jamaican dollar (JMD) Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD) Surinamese dollar (SRD) United States dollar (USD)
Website CARICOM.org

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organisation of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies whose main objective is to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy.^[4] The organisation was established in 1973. Its major activities involve coordinating economic policies and development planning; devising and instituting special projects for the less-developed countries within its jurisdiction; operating as a regional single market for many of its members (Caricom Single Market); and handling regional trade disputes. The secretariat headquarters is in Georgetown, Guyana. CARICOM is an official United Nations Observer.^[5]

Established mainly by the English-speaking parts of the Caribbean, CARICOM has become multilingual in practice with the addition of Dutch-speaking Suriname on 4 July 1995 and Haitian Kreyòl- and French-speaking Haiti on 2 July 2002. Furthermore, it was suggested that Spanish should also become a working language.^[6] In July 2012, CARICOM announced that they were considering making French and Dutch official languages.^[7] In 2001, the heads of government signed a revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that cleared the way to transform the idea of a common market CARICOM into a Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy. Part of the revised treaty establishes and implements the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Membership

Currently CARICOM has 15 full members, 5 associate members and 8 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. Although the group has close ties with Cuba, that nation was excluded due to lack of full democratic internal political arrangement. In 2017 Cuba and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc signed the "CARICOM-Cuba Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement"^[8] to facilitate closer ties.

CARICOM members^[9]

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	One of the four founding members
	Belize	1 May 1974
	Dominica	1 May 1974
	Grenada	1 May 1974
	Guyana	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
	Haiti	2 July 2002	Provisional membership on 4 July 1998
	Jamaica	1 August 1973	One of the four founding members
	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	One of the four founding members
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		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Colombia
	Curaçao		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Dominican Republic
	Mexico
	Puerto Rico		Unincorporated territory of the United States
	Sint Maarten		Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
	Venezuela

Organisational structure

Structures comprised by the overall Caribbean Community (CARICOM).^[10]

Under Article 4 CARICOM breaks its 15 member states into two groups: Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and More Developed Countries (MDCs).^[11]

The countries of CARICOM which are designated as Less Developed Countries (LDCs) are:^[11]

• 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:^[11]

• Commonwealth of the Bahamas


• Barbados


• Co-operative Republic of Guyana


• Jamaica


• Republic of Suriname


• Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Chairmanship

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. These include: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Heads of government

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.^[12]

Secretariat

• 
  Secretariat of the Caribbean Community, The term of office of the Secretary-General is five 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.

Organs and bodies

Community Council

The Community 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 community's principal organs; the other is the Conference of the Heads of Government. It is supported by four other organs and three bodies.

Institutions

The 23 designated institutions of CARICOM are as follows:

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and was chiefly developed to act as a settlement unit for disputes on the functioning of the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME) (known as "original jurisdiction"). In addition, some of the region's Commonwealth Caribbean member states of CARICOM have opted to supplement original jurisdiction with "appellate jurisdiction" which by practice replaces the Privy Council (in London, United Kingdom) with the CCJ.

As of 2018, the majority of member states 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 United Kingdom Overseas Territory (Montserrat). A handful of various public propositions have been held in several countries of CARICOM polling on public support for transitioning of appellate jurisdiction to the CCJ, and to date the majority of these measures held have failed.

Associate institutions

The six designated associate institutions of CARICOM are as follows:

Standard and song

The flag of the Caribbean Community was chosen and approved in November 1983 at the Conference of Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The original design by the firm of WINART Studies in Georgetown, Guyana was substantially modified at the July 1983 Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.^[13] The flag was first flown on 4 July 1984 in Nassau, Bahamas at the fifth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.^[14]

The flag features a blue background, but the upper part is a light blue representing sky and the lower, a darker blue representing the Caribbean Sea. The yellow circle in the centre represents the sun on which is printed in black the logo of the Caribbean Community, two interlocking Cs. The two Cs are in the form of broken links in a chain, symbolising both unity and a break with the colonial past.^{[citation needed]} The narrow ring of green around the sun represents the vegetation of the region.^[13]

For CARICOM's 40th anniversary, a competition to compose an official song or anthem for CARICOM was launched in April 2013^[15] to promote choosing a song that promoted unity and inspired CARICOM identity and pride. A regional panel of judges comprising independent experts in music was nominated by member states and the CARICOM Secretariat. Three rounds of competition condensed 63 entries to a final three, from which judges chose Celebrating CARICOM by Michele Henderson of Dominica^[15] in March 2014.^[16] Henderson won a US$10,000 prize.^[17] Her song was produced by her husband, Roland Delsol Jr., and arranged by Earlson Matthew. It also featured Michael Ferrol on drums and choral input from the St. Alphonsus Choir. It was re-produced for CARICOM by Carl Beaver Henderson of Trinidad and Tobago.^[16]

A second-place entry titled My CARICOM came from Jamaican Adiel Thomas^[15] who won US$5,000,^[17] and a third-place song titled One CARICOM by Carmella Lawrence of St. Kitts and Nevis,^[15] won US$2,500.^[17] The other songs from the top-ten finalists (in no particular order) were:

• 
  One Region one Caribbean from Anguilla,


• 
  One Caribbean Family from Jamaica,


• 
  CARICOM’s Light from St. Vincent & the Grenadines,


• 
  We Are CARICOM from Dominica,


• 
  Together As one from Dominica,


• 
  Blessed CARICOM from Jamaica,


• 
  Together We Rise from Jamaica.^[16]

The first official performance of Celebrating CARICOM by Henderson took place on Tuesday 1 July 2014 at the opening ceremony for the Thirty-Fifth Regional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Antigua and Barbuda.^[15]

History

CARICOM, originally the Caribbean Community and Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas^[18] which took 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) organised to provide a continued economic linkage between the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean after the dissolution of the West Indies Federation, which lasted from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962.

A revised Treaty of Chaguaramas established the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and 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.^[11] The revised treaty cleared the way to transform the idea of a common market CARICOM into the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy.

Haiti's membership in CARICOM remained effectively suspended from 29 February 2004 through early June 2006 following the 2004 Haitian coup d'état and the removal of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the presidency.^[19][20] CARICOM announced that no democratically elected government in CARICOM should have its leader deposed. The fourteen other heads of government sought to have Aristide fly from Africa to Jamaica and share his account of events with them, which infuriated the interim Haitian prime minister, Gérard Latortue, who announced he would take steps to take Haiti out of CARICOM. CARICOM thus voted on suspending the participation of Haitian officials from the councils of CARICOM.^[21] Following the presidential election of René Préval, Haitian officials were readmitted and Préval himself gave the opening address at the CARICOM Council of Ministers meeting in July.

Since 2013 the CARICOM-bloc and with the Dominican Republic have been tied to the European Union via an Economic Partnership Agreements signed in 2008 known as CARIFORUM.^[22] The treaty grants all members of the European Union and CARIFORUM equal rights in terms of trade and investment. Under Article 234 of the agreement, the European Court of Justice handles dispute resolution between CARIFORUM and European Union states.^[23]

Statistics

Population and economic statistics of full and associate members

Member	Membership	Land area (km2)[24]	Population (2019)	GDP (PPP) Millions USD (2017)[25]	GDP Per Capita (PPP) USD (2017)	Human Development Index (2018)
Anguilla	associate	91	15,174	175.4	12,200
Antigua & Barbuda	full member	442.6	104,084	2,390	26,300	0.780
Bahamas	full member	10,010	385,340	9,339	25,100	0.807
Barbados	full member	430	287,010	4,919	17,500	0.800
Belize	full member	22,806	398,050	3,230	8,300	0.708
Bermuda	associate	54	63,779	5,198	85,700
British Virgin Islands	associate	151	32,206	500	42,300
Cayman Islands	associate	264	64,420	2,507	43,800
Dominica	full member	751	74,679	851	12,000	0.715
Grenada	full member	344	108,825	1,590	14,700	0.772
Guyana	full member	214,970	786,508	6,367	8,300	0.654
Haiti	full member	27,560	11,242,856	19,880	1,800	0.498
Jamaica	full member	10,831	2,728,864	26,200	9,200	0.732
Montserrat	full member	102	5,220	43.8	8,500
Saint Kitts and Nevis	full member	261	56,345	1,528	26,800	0.778
Saint Lucia	full member	606	180,454	2,384	13,500	0.747
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	full member	389	109,803	1,281	11,600	0.723
Suriname	full member	156,000	573,085	7,928	13,900	0.720
Trinidad & Tobago	full member	5,128	1,359,193	42,780	31,200	0.784
Turks and Caicos Islands	associate	948	37,910	632	29,100
Full members	members only	432,510	18,400,316	130,711	15,247	0.730

Thousands of Caricom nationals live within other member states of the Community.

An estimated 30,000 Jamaicans legally reside in other CARICOM member states,^[26] mainly in the Bahamas (5,600),^[27] Antigua & Barbuda (estimated 12,000),^[28] Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago).^[26] Also, an estimated 150 Jamaicans live and work in Montserrat.^[28] A November 21, 2013 estimated put 16,958 Jamaicans residing illegally in Trinidad & Tobago, as according to the records of the Office of the Chief Immigration Officer, their entry certificates would have since expired.^[29] By October 2014, the estimated Jamaicans residing illegally in Trinidad and Tobago was 19,000 along with an estimated 7,169 Barbadians and 25,884 Guyanese residing illegally.^[30] An estimated 8,000 Trinidadians and Tobagonians live in Jamaica.^[31]

Exclusive Economic Zones of the member states of the CARICOM. Considering them, the total area reaches the 2 300 297 km².

Barbados hosts a large diaspora population of Guyanese, of whom (in 2005) 5,032 lived there permanently as citizens, permanent residents, immigrants (with immigrant status) and Caricom skilled nationals; 3,200 were residing in Barbados temporarily under work permits, as students, or with "reside and work" status. A further 2,000-3,000 Guyanese were estimated to be living illegally in Barbados at the time.^[32] Migration between Barbados and Guyana has deep roots, going back over 150 years, with the most intense period of Barbadian migration to then-British Guiana occurring between 1863 and 1886, although as late as the 1920s and 1930s Barbadians were still leaving Barbados for British Guiana.^[33]

Migration between Guyana and Suriname also goes back a number of years. An estimated 50,000 Guyanese had migrated to Suriname by 1986^[34][35] In 1987 an estimated 30-40,000 Guyanese were in Suriname.^[36] Many Guyanese left Suriname in the 1970s and 1980s, either voluntarily by expulsion. Over 5,000 were expelled in January 1985 alone.^[37] in the instability Suriname experienced following independence, both coups and civil war.^[35] In 2013 an estimated 11,530 Guyanese had emigrated to Suriname and 4,662 Surinamese to Guyana.^[38]

Relationship to other supranational Caribbean organisations

Supranational Caribbean Organisations

Association of Caribbean States

CARICOM was instrumental in the formation of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on 24 July 1994. The original idea for the Association came from a recommendation of the West Indian Commission, established in 1989 by the CARICOM heads of state and government. The Commission advocated both deepening the integration process (through the CARICOM Single Market and Economy) and widening it through a separate regional organisation encompassing all states in the Caribbean.^[39]

CARICOM accepted the commission's recommendations and opened dialogue with other Caribbean states, the Central American states and the Latin American nations of Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico which border the Caribbean, for consultation on the proposals of the West Indian Commission.^[39]

At an October 1993 summit the heads of state and government of CARICOM and the presidents of the then-Group of Three (Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela) formally decided to create an association grouping all states of the Caribbean basin. A work schedule for its formation was adopted. The aim was to create the association in less than a year, an objective which was achieved with the formal creation of the ACS.^[39]

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States

CARICOM was also involved in the formation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on 3 December 2010. The idea for CELAC originated at the Rio Group–Caribbean Community Unity Summit on 23 February 2010 in Mexico.^{[40][41][42][43][44]}

European Union: Economic Partnership Agreements

Since 2013, the CARICOM-bloc and the Dominican Republic have been tied to the European Union via an Economic Partnership Agreements known as CARIFORUM signed in 2008.^[22] The treaty grants all members of the European Union and CARIFORUM equal rights in terms of trade and investment. Within the agreement under Article 234, the European Court of Justice also carries dispute resolution mechanisms between CARIFORUM and the European Union states.^[23]

OHADAC Project

In May 2016, Caricom's court of original jurisdiction, the CCJ, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the ACP Legal Association based in Guadeloupe recognizing and supporting the goals of implementing a harmonized business law framework in the Caribbean through ACP Legal Association's OHADAC Project.^[45]

OHADAC is the acronym for the French "Organisation pour l'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en les Caraïbes", which translates into English as "Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in the Caribbean". The OHADAC Project takes inspiration from a similar organisation in Africa and aims to enhance economic integration across the entire Caribbean and facilitate increased trade and international investment through unified laws and alternative dispute resolution methods.^[45]

See also

• Projects of the Caribbean Community


• SIDS


• CSME


• Petrocaribe


• Association of Caribbean States


• 
  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)


• 
  North American Union (NAU)


• 
  Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)


• Community of Latin American and Caribbean States


• Commonwealth of Nations


• African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States


• CARIFORUM


• 
  OHADAC (Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in the Caribbean)


• Caribbean Financial Action Task Force


• Caribbean Initiative


• Languages of the Caribbean


• Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)


• Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network


• List of regional organizations by population

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caribbean Community.

• Official website


• 
  Official Blog CARICOM Today


• 
  CARICOM Representation Office in Haiti (CROH)


• 
  CARICOM Statistics: Statistical information compiled through the CARICOM Secretariat


• 
  Radio CARICOM: the voice of the Caribbean Community (Press Release)


• 
  Caricom Law: Website and online database of the CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility (CLDF)


• 
  Caricom Trade Support Programme: Government of Trinidad and Tobago


• CARICOM Trade Support Programme Loan


• Rapid Exchange System for Dangerous Non-food Consumer Goods (CARREX): Front end for Consumer Product Incident Reporting


• 
  PANCAP: Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS


• 
  CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ)


• 
  "CARICOM (Revised Treaty)" (PDF). (573 KB)
  


• EU Style Structure Evident in CARICOM


• Haiti suspends ties with CARICOM


• Jamaica Gleaner News - Haiti could return to CARICOM


• Haiti re-admitted?


• Caricom and Haiti: The raising of the Caribbean's 'Iron Curtain'


• How viable is a single Caribbean currency? Part II


• How viable is a single Caribbean currency? Part III


• The Dominican Republic in Caricom? Yes, we can


• Bureau recommends re-examination of Dominican Republic's proposed membership in CARICOM


• Guyana Journal (2007-07): Advancing Integration Between Caricom and Central America


• 
  EDITORIAL: We may just have to dump CARICOM, July 4, 2010, Jamaica Gleaner
  
  • 
    Commentary: Gleaner newspaper suggests disbanding CARICOM, July 5, 2010, Caribbean Net News


• 
  Does Caricom have a future? , 6 July 2010, BBC.co.uk
  


• 
  That elusive governance structure, 7 July 2010, BBC.co.uk