Caribbean Community
The Caribbean Community is an intergovernmental organisation that is a political and economic union of 15 member states and five associated members throughout the Americas, the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. It has the primary objective to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and coordinate foreign policy. The organisation was established in 1973, by its four founding members signing the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
The secretariat headquarters is in Georgetown, Guyana. CARICOM has been granted the official United Nations General Assembly observer status.
History
CARICOM, originally The Caribbean Community and Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas which took effect on 1 August 1973. Founding states were Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.The Caribbean Community superseded the 1965–1972 Caribbean Free Trade Association organised to provide a continued economic linkage between the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean after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, security, foreign exchange 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. The revised treaty cleared the way to transform the idea of a common market CARICOM into the Caribbean 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. 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. 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. 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.
On 1 October 2025, four Caricom members—Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines—implemented full freedom of movement, going beyond the freedom of movement only for skilled workers that other Caricom members have implemented.
Agenda and goals
CARICOM was established by the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean and currently includes all the independent Anglophone island countries plus Belize, Guyana, Montserrat and Suriname, as well as all other British Caribbean territories and Bermuda as associate members. English was its sole working language into the 1990s. The organisation became multilingual with the addition of Dutch and Sranan Tongo-speaking Suriname in 1995 and the French and Haitian Creole-speaking Haiti in 2002. Furthermore, it added Spanish as the fourth official language in 2003. In July 2012, CARICOM announced they considered making French and Dutch official languages. In 2001, the Conference of Heads of Governments signed a revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that cleared the way to transform the idea of a common market CARICOM into the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. Part of the revised treaty establishes and implements the Caribbean Court of Justice. Its primary 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.
- Handling regional trade disputes.
Organisational structure
Administration and staff
Chairmanship
The post of Chairman is held in rotation by the regional Heads of Government 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, The 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 specialised portfolios of responsibility for regional development and integration.Secretariat
The Secretariat of the Caribbean Community is the Chief Administrative Organ for CARICOM. The Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community is the chief executive and handles foreign and community relations. Five years is the term of office of the Secretary-General, which may be renewed. The Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community handles human and Social Development. The General Counsel of the Caribbean Community handles trade and economic integration.The goal statement of the CARICOM Secretariat is: "To contribute, in support of Member States, to the improvement of the quality of life of the People of the Community and the development of an innovative and productive society in partnership with institutions and groups working towards attaining a people-centred, sustainable and internationally competitive Community."
Organs and bodies
Community Council
The Community Council comprises ministers responsible for community affairs and any other Minister designated by the member states at their discretion. It is one of the community's principal organs; the other is the Conference of the Heads of Government. Four other organs and three bodies support it.| 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 |
| Body | Description |
| Legal Affairs Committee | provides legal advice |
| 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. |
Institutions
The following institutions are founded by or affiliated to the Caricom:Caricom Institutions
Functional cooperation
Associate
Cancelled
The following institutions have been cancelled or merged into other ones:| Institution | Abbreviation | Location | Country |
| Regional Educational Programme for Animal Health Assistants | REPAHA | New Amsterdam | Guyana |
| Caribbean Food Corporation | CFC | Saint Augustine | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Caribbean Environmental Health Institute | CEHI | Castries | Saint Lucia |
| The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre | CAREC | Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute | CFNI | Kingston | Jamaica |
| Caribbean Health Research Council | CHRC | Saint Augustine | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory | CRDTL | Georgetown | Guyana |
Relationship to other supranational Caribbean organisations
Association of Caribbean States
CARICOM was instrumental in the formation of the Association of Caribbean States 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 and complementing it through a separate regional organisation encompassing all states in the Caribbean.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.
At an October 1993 summit, the heads of state and government of CARICOM and the presidents of the then-Group of Three 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.