JAMAICA became a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) on 1973 August 1 when the Government, together with the Governments of Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas which established the Organisation.
The main purpose of this coming together of the Caribbean nations is enshrined in the Mission Statement of CARICOM:
"To provide dynamic leadership and service in pursuit of regional integration through the timely development and operation of Community structures and programmes which provide for effective decision-making and implementation, create and strengthen linkages among Governments, Organisations and people of the Caribbean Community and which improve the quality of life and contribute to the attainment of a viable and sustainable Community."
The Organisation has three main objectives:
- economic co-operation through the Caribbean Common Market;
- co-ordination of foreign policy among the independent Member States; and
- common services and co-operation in functional matters such as health, education and culture, communications and industrial relations.
The principal organs of the Community are the Conference of Heads of Government commonly called "The Conference" and the Community Council of Ministers, commonly called "The Council".
The Organisation is headed by a Secretary-General, Edwin W. Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago, appointed since 1993. Jamaican Roderick Rainford served as Secretary-General for the period 1983 to 1992.
The Caribbean Community now has fifteen Member States - Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. Within the United Nations, the fourteen Member States (Montserrat is not a UN Member) work together on various issues, and each country, by alphabetical selection, has the opportunity of coordinating the group's activities on a quarterly basis.
More detailed information and relevant documents on the Organisation can be obtained from the web site of the Caribbean Community.