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CARICOM replaced the 1965–1972 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which had been organized to provide a continued economic linkage between the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean following the dissolution of the West Indies Federation which lasted from January 3 , 1958 to May 31 , 1962 . A Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) was signed by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community on July 5 2001 at their Twenty-Second Meeting of the Conference in Nassau, The Bahamas . Overview The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has become unofficially multilingual in practice with the addition of Dutch -speaking Suriname on July 4 1995 and Haiti , where French and Haitian Creole are spoken, on July 2 2002 . In 2001, the heads of government signed a Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas thus clearing the way for the transformation of the Common Market aspect of CARICOM. Part of the revised treaty includes the establishment and implementation of the Caribbean Court Of Justice . Membership [[Image:LocationCaricom.png|frame|right|Caricom members and observers ]] Currently CARICOM has 15 full members:
There are five associate members: There are seven observers: Since March 2004, Haiti's participation in CARICOM was suspended by its interim Prime Minister, forms a new government {Link without Title} , {Link without Title} . In July 1999, Anguilla once again became involved with CARICOM when it gained associate membership. Prior to this, Anguilla had briefly been a part of CARICOM (1974-1980) as a constituent of the full member state of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. In 2005 the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic had proposed seeking to obtain full membership status in CARICOM for his country; however, due to the sheer size of the Dominican Republic's economy and population size in comparison with the current CARICOM states, and coupled with the Dominican Republic's checkered history of foreign policy solidarity with the CARICOM states it is unclear whether the CARICOM states will unanimously vote to admit the Dominican Republic as a full member into the organization.It has been proposed that CARICOM may deepen ties with the Dominican Republic through the auspice of the Association Of Caribbean States (ACS) instead, which is an organisation that stops just short of the proposed political integration which will underpin CARICOM at a later date. See also: Trade Bloc 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). There is also a quasi Cabinet of individual Heads of Government who are given specific responsibility or portfalios for overall regional development and integration. Regoinal Portfolios of CARICOM Heads of Government The Legislative The Community Council: The Council consists of Ministers responsible for Community Affairs and any other Minister designated by the Member States in their absolute discretion. It is one of the the principal organs (the other being the Conference of the Heads of Government) and is supported by four other organs and three bodies. Supporting Organs
Supporting Bodies
The Judiciary The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will act as the original jurisdiction for settlement of disputes on the functioning of the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market And Economy (CSME), as well as serving as an appellate Court of last resort for member states which have severed their country's ties with the Privy Council in London , United Kingdom . The CCJ is based in Port Of Spain , Trinidad And Tobago . Caribbean Community organs and bodies Structures that comprise the Caribbean Community ('''CARICOM''').
Secretariat
The Secretariat is located in Georgetown , Guyana . Caribbean Community Institutions
Associate Institutions
Secondary organs
Other bodies
CARICOM projects CARICOM Single Market And Economy The 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 . But this was later posponed after a ruling by the London Privy council caused alarm to several Caribbean countries. The prospect was that ten of the remaining twelve CARICOM countries would join the CSME by the end of 2005. The Bahamas and Haiti were not expected to be a part of the new economic arrangement at that time. The CARICOM Secretariat maintains frequent contact with another organisation named the Organisation Of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) , which represents seven Full members and two Associate members of CARICOM in the Eastern Caribbean. Many of the OECS countries are seeking to maintain themselves as a micro-economic grouping within CARICOM. The CARICOM Single Market Economy treaty finally went into effect on 1 January 2006 with Barbados , Belize , Jamaica , Guyana , Suriname and Trinidad And Tobago as the first full members. The British Overseas Territory of Montserrat is seeking permission from the United Kingdom to become a part of the Single Market ; Haiti will not join the market initially because of the difficult internal political situation; and the Bahamas will not join because of local opposition to a provision that allows skilled workers to move more easily among nations. The CARICOM Common Passport On Friday, January 7 , 2005 , the Republic of Suriname became the first full member state to officially launch the new bloc "CARICOM Passport". The new passports boast having better security and are also machine-readable. The full member states of the Caribbean Community had agreed to establish a common passport in order to make intra-regional and international travel easier for their citizens. The passports are also thought to save additional costs for member states by using a similar cover design, the designs will also follow newly updated international standards on Passport design. The second state that released the national CARICOM passport was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: SVG began issuing the new CARICOM passports around April 2005. On 25 October 2005 , St. Kitts and Nevis became the third CARICOM member state to bring the CARICOM passport into operation, making good on its promise to launch it before the end of the year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Kitts and Nevis said it launched its CARICOM passport today and Issuance of the document to citizens of that country will begin on 14 November . The CARICOM passport creates awareness that CARICOM nationals are nationals of the Community, as well as a specific country. The expectation is that all the member states will introduce the CARICOM passport when the stock of their old passports is depleted. The Co-operative Republic of Guyana and also Antigua and Barbuda announced they will begin to use the new CARICOM passport format by the middle of 2005. Passport designs The three colours of the new passports are: In the case of Suriname, the Passport is adorned with the national symbols for the Republic of Suriname, as well as the CARICOM insignia on its cover. President of the Republic of Suriname Ronald Venetiaan received the first of these new CARICOM passports. Antigua and Barbuda's design is to feature the country's Coat of Arms and country name as well as the CARICOM logo. The passports for Suriname were created by the Canadian Banknote Company Ltd . (CBN) Under a five-year programme with a price tag of US$1.5 million. It is believed other member states of CARICOM will now soon follow with the introduction of their own branded version of the national 'CARICOM' Passport. Future proposals
Free trade From around the year 2000, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states have placed a new focus and emphasis on establishing Free Trade Agreement s (FTAs) with local and international trading partners. This is particially done in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional Negociating Machinery (CRNM). ;Preferential agreements ;Free Trade Agreements
;Proposed
Comparison with other regional blocs References External links
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