Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is a regional organization dedicated to the Caribbean countries. It was established as a "result of a 15-year effort to fulfill the hope of regional integration which was born with the establishment of the British West Indies Federation in 1958." (caricom.org) Even though that federation ended in 1962 it was regarded as the "real beginning of what is now the Caribbean Community."

The government of Trinidad and Tobago proposed the creation of the Caribbean Community. It was discussed at the First Heads of Government Conference in July of 1963. In December of 1965 Heads of Government of Antigua, Barbados and British Guiana signed an agreement to set up the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The idea of the Caribbean Community and Common Market finally came about at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October of 1972. Caribbean leaders wanted to transform the CARIFTA into a common market and establish the Caribbean Community where the common market would play an integral part. In turn, the Caribbean Community and Common Market was finally established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas on August 01, 1973. The treaty was signed by only four countries at first and over the next couple of decades eleven more Caribbean countries signed and joined CARICOM.

The objectives of CARICOM are to improve the overall quality of the Caribbean communities and include:

"improved standards of living and work; full employment of labor and other factors of production; accelerated, coordinated and sustained economic development and convergence; expansion of trade and economic relations with third States; enhanced levels of international competitiveness; organization for increased production and productivity; the achievement of a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of member states in dealing with third States, groups of States and entities of any description; enhanced coordination of member states foreign and economic policies; and enhanced functional co-operation which includes more efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its peoples; accelerated promotion of greater understanding among its peoples and the advancement of their social, cultural and technological development; intensified activities in areas such as health, education, transportation, telecommunications." (caricom.org)

There are fifteen members of CARICOM and five associate members. The members are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent, The Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The associate members are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands. These five associate members all became a part of CARICOM between the years of 1991 and 2003.

To know exactly how CARICOM works you first have to know about its institutions. There are two principal organs which are assisted by four other organs, three bodies and by the CARICOM Secretariat. The two principal organs are "The Conference of the Heads of Government and its Bureau" and "The Community Council of Ministers", also known as the Community Council. The Conference of the Heads of Government members are the heads of governments of the member states. The heads of government of the member states may designate a minister or another person to take his/her place in the conference though. "The Conference is the supreme organ of the Community and determines and provides policy direction for the Community. The Conference may make decisions in order to establish the financial arrangements necessary to defray the expenses of the Community and is the final authority on questions arising in relation to the financial affairs of the Community. The Conference may establish such organs and bodies as it considers necessary for the achievement of the objectives of the Community."

The four other organs are The Council for Finance and Planning, The Council for Trade and Economic Development, The Council for Foreign and Community Relations and The Council for Human and Social Development. These four organs have members that consist of ministers or other designated people from the member states. The Council for Finance and Planning deals with the monetary and financial integration of the member states and also has the primary responsibility for economic policy coordination. The Council for Trade and Economic Development is responsible for the promotion of trade and economic development in CARICOM. The Council for Foreign and Community Relations is responsible for the relations between CARICOM and other international or regional organizations and other states. The Council for Human and Social Development is responsible for "the promotion of human and social development" in the CARICOM member states.

The three bodies are The Legal Affairs Committee, The Budget Committee and The Committee of Central Bank Governors. The Legal Affairs Committee consists of the ministers that are responsible for the legal affairs of the member states or the attorney generals of the member states. The Budget Committee consists of senior officials of the member states. It examines the draft budget and work program of CARICOM and submits recommendations to the Secretariat. The Committee of Central Bank Governors consists of the governors of heads of the central banks in the member states. This committee discusses matters relating to monetary cooperation, payment arrangements, and free movement of capital and integration of capital markets.

CARICOM also has a Secretariat. It is the principal administrative organ and is headed by the Secretary General. The secretary general is the Chief Executive Officer of CARICOM. The mission statement of the 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. The secretariat has several offices and many functions. Some of these functions include initiating or developing proposals for consideration and decision by the relevant organs; collecting, storing and disseminating relevant information to CARICOM's member states and mobilizing resources from donor agencies to assist in the implementation of CARICOM programs.

One may wonder exactly how a regional organization such as CARICOM works and it seems simple enough. The meetings that take place with the Heads of Government, of each of the member states, and of the Ministerial Councils, which are also known as the institutions, are the main measures of attaining consensus on regional issues and policies.

One other important factor of CARICOM is the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). CSME is there to help benefit the people of the member states by providing more opportunities and also better opportunities to produce and sell the goods and services of the countries and to also attract investments. The key elements of CSME include: free movement of goods and services, right of establishment, a common external tariff, free circulation, free movement of capital, a common trade policy, free movement of labor and the harmonization of laws, which is the harmonization of company, intellectual property and other laws.

There are problems that CARICOM faces just as any other international, regional or supranational organization would face. The book "The Caribbean Community: Facing the Challenges of Regional and Global Integration" by Anneke Jessen talks about the economic problems facing CARICOM. According to Jessen CARICOM is seeking to prepare its member states' economies for the next millennium. By doing this they face some major problems which include attaining higher and more sustainable economic growth rates, confronting a number of social problems that directly impinge on the region's future development potential and they must do these in a more than ever competitive world economy. Because of the size of the local markets the exports play an important role in the CARICOM member states. This may be one of the reasons why there is a current controversy between one of the member states and the United States regarding on cross-border gambling and betting services to the United States from Antigua and Barbuda. CARICOM has also pointed out some issues to the United Nations that it would like to deal with. These include: migration; interrelations between population and sustainable development; population policy; adolescent fertility, reproductive health and family planning; and advocacy programs.

CARICOM is like many other organizations that are aimed to better the condition of its member states. It is serving as a link between its member states and other parts of the world. It is making the processes to get things done for it member states smoother because the member states are joined together in one organization that is aimed for their better good. I feel as though CARICOM is doing a good job of helping the member states, but it could be doing a great job and actively addressing the problems its member states are facing and helping them to become better countries for the residents of those countries and for the rest of the world.