Caribbean Community and Common Market

Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), organization founded by the Treaty of Chaguaramas (Trinidad; 1973, revised 2001) and including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti (suspended 2004–6), Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands are associate members. Its purpose is to promote economic integration and development, especially in less-developed areas of the region. Besides managing a common market, CARICOM formulates policies regarding health, education, labor, science and technology, tourism, foreign policy, and the environment. CARICOM's headquarters are in Georgetown, Guyana. In 2005 the organization established the Caribbean Court of Justice, which functions for participating nations as a final court of appeals and as a court of original jurisdiction for settling disputes among CARICOM nations. In 2006 Caricom inaugurated its single market and economy when six of its members participated in the establishment of a CARICOM single market. The establishment of a single economy for participating nations is planned for 2008. Other affiliated institutions include the Caribbean Development Bank, the Univ. of Guyana, and the Univ. of the West Indies.