| Brief History of CARICOM
At the Eighth Heads of Government Conference of CARIFTA held in April 1973 in Georgetown, Guyana, the decision to establish the Caribbean Community was brought to fruition. The process through which it was established is set out in the Georgetown Accord.
Original signatories to the Treaty were Prime Ministers Errol Barrow for Barbados; Forbes Burnham for Guyana; Michael Manley for Jamaica; Eric Williams for Trinidad and Tobago. By May 1, 1974 all other members of CARIFTA had signed the Agreement to become full members of CARICOM, except Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis. They both signed the Agreement in July 1974.
In July 1983, The Bahamas became the 13th member of the Caribbean Community but not of the Common Market.
Suriname became the 14th Member State to join the Community in July 1995 and the Common Market in January 1996.
Haiti was formally admitted as the 15th Member State at the Twenty-Third Heads of Government Meeting, Georgetown on 2nd July 2002.
In July 1991, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands became the first Associate Members followed by Anguilla in July 1999. The Cayman Islands became the fourth Associate Member of the regional grouping on 16 May 2002; Bermuda became the fifth on 2 July 2003.
The three objectives of the Community at its inception were, economic integration, co-ordination of foreign policy and functional co-operation in areas such as health, education and culture and other areas related to human and social development.
CARICOM Member States
There are 15 CARICOM Member States:
| Member State |
Date of joining |
 |
Antigua and Barbuda
|
4 July 1974 |
 |
The Commonwealth of The Bahamas
|
4 July 1983 (of the community only) |
 |
Barbados
|
1 August 1973 |
 |
Belize |
1 May 1974 |
 |
The Commonwealth Dominica
|
1 May 1974 |
 |
Grenada |
1 May 1974 |
 |
The Cooperative Republic of Guyana |
1 August 1973 |
 |
The Republic of Haiti |
3 July 2002 |
 |
Jamaica |
1 August 1973 |
 |
Montserrat |
1 May 1974 |
 |
The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis
|
26 July 1974 |
 |
Saint Lucia
|
1 May 1974 |
 |
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
|
1 May 1974 |
 |
The Republic Suriname
|
4 July 1995 |
 |
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago |
1 August 1973 |
| There are also five Associate Members of CARICOM: |
| Associate Member |
Date of joining |
 |
Anguilla |
4 July 1999 |
 |
Bermuda |
2 July 2003 |
 |
British Virgin Islands |
2 July 1991 |
 |
Cayman Islands |
15 May 2002 |
 |
Turks and Caicos Islands |
2 July 1991 |
Secretaries General of CARICOM
CARICOM is headed by a Secretary General (SG). The sixth and current Secretary General is Ambassador H.E. Irwin LaRocque.
Institutions of the Community
The Community in responding to the need to prioritise certain social and economic issues has established a number of institutions and linked with several partners.
Regional Portfolios of CARICOM Heads of Government
A quasi-cabinet of individual Heads of Government has been constituted to spearhead action in sectors critical to the Region's integration.
| Portfolio |
Country |
| Services |
Antigua and Barbuda |
| Tourism (including Land, Cruise, ACP/EU Partnership Agreement provisions etc) |
The Bahamas |
| Single Market and Economy (including Monetary Union) |
Barbados |
| Justice and Governance |
Belize |
| Labour (Including intra-Community Movement of Skills) |
Dominica |
| Science and Technology (including Information and Communications) |
Grenada |
| Agriculture, Agricultural Diversification and Food Security (including the Regional Transformation Programme (RTP) and Bananas) |
Guyana |
| External Trade Negotiations |
Jamaica |
| Human Resource Development, Health and HIV/AIDS |
St. Kitts and Nevis |
| Sustainable Development (including Environment and Disaster Management and Water) |
Saint Lucia |
| Transport (Maritime and Aviation) |
St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Community Development and Cultural Cooperation (including Culture, Gender, Youth and Sport) |
Suriname |
| Energy & Security (Drugs and Illicit Arms) |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Related Resources
|
