Caribbean Community (CARICOM) - Membership, Structure, CARICOM projects

An association chiefly of former British colonies in the Caribbean Sea, some of which (Barbados, Jamaica, and the Leeward Is except for the Virgin and Windward Is) existed as the Caribbean Federation, with the aim of full self-government, until the establishment of the West Indies Federation (195863). When Jamaica became independent in 1962, the Federation was dissolved. In 1969 certain of the remaining islands in the Windward and Leeward Is were offered associated status within the Commonwealth, and in 1969 the West Indies Associated States was formed. In 1968 many of the islands agreed to the establishment of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA). Suriname joined CARICOM in 1995, and Haiti in 2000 (suspended 2004, reinstated 2006), making its membership 15.

Portions of the summary below have been contributed by Wikipedia.

Caribbean Community and Common Market



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 which came into effect on August 1, 1973.

Membership

Currently CARICOM has 15 full members:

Antigua and Barbuda (4 July 1974) The Bahamas (4 July 1983) Barbados (1 August 1973) Belize (1 May 1974) Dominica (1 May 1974) Grenada (1 May 1974) Guyana (1 August 1973) Haiti (provisional membership on 4 July 1998, full membership on 2 July 2002) Jamaica (1 August 1973) Montserrat (a territory of the United Kingdom) (1 May 1974) Saint Kitts and Nevis (26 July 1974 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)

There are five associate members:

British Virgin Islands (July 1991) Turks and Caicos Islands (July 1991) Anguilla (July 1999) Cayman Islands (16 May 2002) Bermuda (2 July 2003)

There are seven observers:

Aruba Colombia Dominican Republic Mexico Netherlands Antilles Puerto Rico Venezuela

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.

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).

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

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)

Associate Institutions

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)

Secondary organs

Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP)

Other bodies

Legal Affairs Committee (related: CARICOM Law) Budget Committee Committee of the Central Bank Governors

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. 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

Regional bloc 1	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states 1
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
Reference blocs and countries 2	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Political divisions
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. ██ smallest value among the blocs compared ██ largest value among the blocs compared During 2004.