Caribbean Community

CARICOM replaced the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which had been existence since 1965, which had in turn replaced the West Indies Federation, which lasted from 1958 to 1962.

CARICOM was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which came into effect on August 1, 1973. The treaty's signatories were Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. A Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), was signed at Nassau, The Bahamas, on July 5, 2001.

Member States
(in order of membership)

Barbados (August 1, 1973)
Guyana (August 1, 1973)
Jamaica (August 1, 1973)
Trinidad and Tobago (August 1, 1973)
Belize (May 1, 1974)
Dominica (May 1, 1974)
Grenada (May 1, 1974)
Montserrat (May 1, 1974)
Saint Lucia (May 1, 1974)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (May 1, 1974)
Antigua and Barbuda (July 4, 1974)
Saint Kitts and Nevis (July 26, 1974)
The Bahamas (July 4, 1983)
Suriname (July 4, 1995)
Haiti (July 2, 2002)

Associate Members

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

Observers

Aruba
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
Puerto Rico
Venezuela

The CARICOM headquarters are located in Georgetown, Guyana.

The CARICOM website is www.caricom.org.

SEE ALSO
Caribbean Free Trade Association

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This page was last updated on September 28, 2017.