Single market and economy
The CSME will be implemented through a number of phases, first being the CARICOM Single Market (CSM). The CSM was initially implemented on January 1, 2006, with the signing of the document for its implementation by six original member states. However the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the CSME had been provisionally applied by twelve member states of CARICOM from February 4, 2002, under a Protocol on the Provisional Application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Nine protocols had been drafted to amend the Original Treaty of Chaguaramas and had been consolidated into the Revised Treaty signed at Nassau in 2001, with a number of the Protocols having been applied in part or in full from their creation in 1997-1998 including the provision on the Free Movement of Skilled Nationals. As of July 3, 2006, it now has 12 members. Although the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) has been established, in 2006 it was only expected to be fully implemented in 2008. Later in 2007 a new deadline for the coming into effect of the Single Economy was set for 2015, however, following the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the resulting Great Recession, in 2011, CARICOM Heads of Government declared that progress towards the Single Economy had been put on pause. The completion of the CSME with the Single Economy will be achieved with the harmonization of economic policy, and possibly a single currency. At the eighteenth Inter-Sessional CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 12 to 14 February 2007, it was agreed that while the framework for the Single Economy would be on target for 2008, the recommendations of a report on the CSME for the phased implementation of the Single Economy would be accepted. The Single Economy is now expected to be implemented in two phases.Phase 1
Phase 1 was to take place between 2008 and 2009 with the consolidation of the Single Market and the initiation of the Single Economy. Its main elements would include: *The outline of the Development Vision and the Regional Development Strategy *The extension of categories of free movement of labour and the streamlining of existing procedures, including contingent rights *Full implementation of free movement of service providers, with streamlined procedures *Implementation of Legal status (i.e. legal entrenchment) for the CARICOM Charter for Civil Society *Establishment and commencement of operations of theProgress and delays
While progress on the elements of Phase 1 has not resulted in its completion by 2009, a number of its elements have been met, including: *The outline of the Development Vision and the Regional Development Strategy *The extension of categories of free movement of labour (to now include to household domestics, nurses, teachers and workers holding specific categories of vocational qualifications) and the streamlining of existing procedures, including contingent rights *Full implementation of free movement of service providers, with streamlined procedures *Establishment of thePhase 2
Phase 2 is to take place between 2010 and 2015 and consists of the consolidation and completion of the Single Economy. It is expected that decisions taken during Phase 1 would be implemented within this time period, although the details will depend on the technical work, consultations and decisions that would have been taken. Phase 2 will include: *Harmonisation of taxation systems, incentives and the financial and regulatory environment *Implementation of common policies in agriculture, energy-related industries, transport, small and medium enterprises, sustainable tourism and agro-tourism *Implementation of the Regional Competition Policy and Regional Intellectual Property Regime *Harmonisation of fiscal and monetary policies *Implementation of a CARICOM Monetary Union.St. Ann's Declaration
At the conclusion of a special summit on the CSME held in Trinidad and Tobago from 3–4 December 2018, the leaders agreed to a three-year plan on the CSME. This plan will include:At last a Time For Action on the CSME by David JessopMember states
Current twelve full members of both CARICOM and the CSME: * * * * * * * * * * * * Of the twelve members expected to join the CSME, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago were the first six to implement the CARICOM Single Market on 1 January 2006. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were the next batch of members (six in all) that joined the CSM on July 3, 2006 at the recent CARICOM Heads of Government Conference. Current full members of CARICOM and partial participant of the CSME: * Haiti's Parliament ratified the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in October 2007 and Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Renald Clerisme presented the published Notice of Ratification to the Chairman of the Caribbean Community Council of Ministers, on 7 February clearing the way for the country's full participation in the CSME on 8 February 2008. Haiti has not completed its implementation of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and is therefore not a full participant in the Single Market and Economy. In keeping with the thrust to rebuild the country following theCaribbean Court of Justice
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is the Highest regional Court established by the Agreement Establishing in the Caribbean Court of Justice. It has a long gestation period commencing in 1970 when the Jamaican delegation at the Sixth Heads of Government Conference, which convened in Jamaica, proposed the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Appeal in substitution for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Caribbean Court of Justice has been designed to be more than a court of last resort for Member States of the Caribbean Community of the Privy Council, the CCJ was vested with an original jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community (Treaty of Chaguramas) In effect, the CCJ would exercise both an appellate and an original jurisdiction. In the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ considers and determines appeals in both civil and criminal matters from common law courts within the jurisdiction of Member States of the Community and which are parties to the Agreement Establishing the CCJ. In the discharge of its appellate jurisdiction, the CCJ is the highest municipal court in the Region. In the exercise of its original jurisdiction, the CCJ will be discharging the functions of an international tribunal applying rules of international law in respect of the interpretation and application of the Treaty and so will be the court of arbitration for trade disputes under the CSME. By 2006, only two countries were full signatories to the Court: Barbados and Guyana, it was expected that by the end of 2010, all 14 member countries would be fully involved. However, only Belize acceded to the appellate jurisdiction in 2010 while all other states were in various stages of moving towards full accession to the court's appellate jurisdiction. Dominica thereafter acceded to the appellate jurisdiction in March 2015. (Source; CARICOM's official website at)Trade in goods
All goods which meet the CARICOM rules of origin are traded duty-free throughout the region (except The Bahamas), therefore all goods originating within the region can be traded without restrictions. In addition, most member states apply a Common External Tariff (CET) on good originating from non-CARICOM countries. There are, however, some areas still to be developed: *Treatment of products made in Free Zones – there is need for regional agreement on how these goods are to be treated since they are usually manufactured at reduced tariff by foreign companies. *The removal of some specific non-tariff barriers in various member-states. Another key element in relations to goods is Free Circulation. This provision allows for the free movement of goods imported from extra regional sources which would require collection of taxes at first point of entry into the CSME and for the sharing of collected customs revenue. (Sources; JIS website on the CSME at and CARICOM website on the CSME at)Harmonization of standards
Complementary to the free movement of goods will be the guarantee of acceptable standards of these goods and services. To accomplish this, CARICOM members have established the Caribbean Regional Organization on Standards and Quality (CROSQ). The Organization will be responsible for establishing regional standards in the manufacture and trade of goods which all Member States must adhere to. This Organization was established by a separate agreement from the CSME. As an example of the work of the CROSQ, in conjunction with other regional bodies, on 6 October 2017, COTED approved nine poultry processing plants in Barbados, Belize (including Quality Poultry Products' plant and Caribbean Chicken's plant),CARICOM open to Belize chickenRegional accreditation
Regional accreditation bodies are planned to assess qualifications for equivalency, complementary to the free movement of persons. To this end, the Member States have concluded the Agreement on Accreditation for Education in Medical and other Health Professions. By this agreement, an Authority (the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions) is established which will be responsible for accrediting doctors and other health care personnel throughout the CSME. The Authority will be headquartered in Jamaica, which is one of among six states (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago) in which agreement is already in force. The Bahamas has also signed on to the Agreement. Region-wide accreditation has also been planned for vocational skills. Currently local training agencies award National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) or national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) certification, which are not valid across Member States. However, in 2003, the Caribbean Association of National Agencies (CANTA) was formed as an umbrella organization of the various local training agencies including Trinidad and Tobago's National Training Agency, the Barbados TVET Council and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States TVET agency and the HEART Trust/NTA of Jamaica. Since 2005, the member organizations of CANTA have been working together to ensure a uniformed level of certified skilled labour under the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) and CANTA itself has established a regional certification scheme that awards the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), which is to replace NVQs and national TVET certifications. The CVQ will be school-based and although based on the certification scheme of CANTA, will be awarded by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) which will be collaborating with CANTA on the CVQ programme. At the February 9–10, 2007 meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, officials discussed arrangements for the award of the CVQ which was approved by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) in October 2006. It was expected that the CVQ programme may be in place by mid-2007, if all the requirements are met and that provisions were being made for the holders of current NVQs to have them converted into the regionally accepted type (although no clear mandate is yet in place). This deadline was met and in October 2007, the CVQ programme was officially launched. The CVQ now facilitates the movement of artisans and other skilled persons in the CSME. This qualification will be accessible to persons already in the workforce as well as students in secondary schools across the Caribbean region. Those already in the work force will be required to attend designated centres for assessment. The CVQ is based on a competency-based approach to training, assessment and certification. Candidates are expected to demonstrate competence in attaining occupational standards developed by practitioners, industry experts and employers. Those standards when approved by CARICOM allow for portability across the Region. Currently, CVQs are planned to reflect a Qualification framework of five levels. These are: * Level 1: Directly Supervised/Entry –Level Worker * Level 2: Supervised Skilled Worker * Level 3: Independent or Autonomous Skilled Worker * Level 4: Specialized or Supervisory Worker * Level 5: Managerial and/or Professional Worker CVQ's are awarded to those candidates who would have met the required standards in all of the prescribed units of study. Statements are issued in cases where candidates did not complete all the requirements for the award of CVQ. Schools that are suitably equipped currently offer Levels 1 & 2. By March 2012 up to 2,263 CVQs had been awarded in the workforce across the region and 2,872 had been awarded in schools for a total of 5,135 CVQs awarded up to that time. The breakdown of the agency awarding the over 5,000 CVQs by March 2012 stood at 1,680 having been awarded by the CXC and 3,455 being awarded by the various National Training Agencies (with some being awarded in the workplace and some being awarded in secondary schools). (Main Sources; JIS website on the CSME and Google Cache of SICE - Establishment of the CSME at - see references)Abolition of work permits/permits of stay and the free movement of persons
Chapter III of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas provides for the free movement of skilled Community nationals (article 46) as well as for the free movement of non-wage earners, either as service providers and/or to establish businesses, including managerial, supervisory and technical staff, and their spouses and immediate family members.Trade in services and the right of establishment
Along with the free trade in goods, the Revised Treaty also provides the framework for the establishment of a regime for free trade in services. The main objective is to facilitate trade and investment in the services sectors of CSME Member States through the establishment of economic enterprises. The free trade regime for services grants the following benefits:Right of establishment
The right to work as a self-employed person has been provided for in respect of persons wishing to engage in non-wage earning activities of a commercial, industrial, agricultural or artisanal nature. Non-Wage Earners are self-employed CARICOM Nationals (juridical as well as natural persons) who have the right to work as self-employed persons in the C.S.M.E. and these persons can move to another Member State to establish a business or to provide a service on temporary basis. Such nationals may create and manage economic enterprises, including any type of organization which they own or control (e.g. sole proprietorship, company, etc.) for the production of or trade in goods, or the provision of services. Service providers may also move to establish businesses under the Companies Act or the Registration of Business Names Act. The procedure in those cases would be the same as those applying to the establishment of business for the provision of goods by a Company. Nationals exercising this right may move to another Member State on a permanent basis. This category of person is not required to obtain a Free Movement of Skill Certificate, however Service Providers must obtain a Certificate of Registration as a CARICOM Service Provider. Affiliated with the right of establishment is the right to move the Technical, Supervisory and Managerial staff of such entities, as well as their spouses and immediate dependent family members. Persons within any of these five (5) named classes are not allowed to move in their own right unless they fall under one of the nine (9) approved categories (where the member state recognizes these categories). Several procedures have been approved for treatment of persons wishing to establish business enterprises in other member states. These involve: * Procedures at Point of Entry whereby Immigration must grant a definite stay of six (6) months, upon the national presenting a valid passport, return ticket and proof of financial resources for personal maintenance. * Procedures post-entry. This includes the requirement for a migrant CARICOM National to apply to the Competent Authority (usually the Registrar of Companies) of the receiving state, for registration of a business enterprise.=Entry procedure at point of entry for right of establishment
= CARICOM Nationals specifically wishing to move from one Member State to another in exercising the right of establishment will have to present the following at point of entry: * (i) Valid passport; * (ii) Return ticket; * (iii) Proof of financial resources for personal maintenance, namely credit cards, travelers cheques, cash or combination thereof. Immigration will then grant the CARICOM National a definite stay of 6 months.=Procedure after entry for right of establishment
= Each Member State shall designate a Competent Authority for Right of Establishment. After entry has been granted the CARICOM National must submit to the Competent Authority, relevant proof, such as Police Certificate, Financial Resources, Business Names Certificate / Certificate of Incorporation. The Competent Authority will determine if all requirements to establish the particular business have been satisfied. Once all requirements are satisfied, the Competent Authority will issue a letter of approval to the CARICOM national copied to the Immigration Department. If the business is established within the 6 months period then the CARICOM National must report to the Immigration Department to further regularize his / her stay with the Letter of Approval from the Competent Authority. Immigration will grant the CARICOM National an indefinite stay. Member States will determine through the national mechanisms which have been established for that purpose, whether the business is operational. If the CARICOM National is no longer operating the business or another business the Competent Authority for Rights of Establishment will inform the Immigration Department, which has the right to rescind the indefinite stay or to indicate to the person that he / she needs to apply for a permit of stay and / or a work permit until such time that there is full free movement in the Community.=Extension for right of establishment
= In the event that the business is not established within the 6-month period, the CARICOM National should present to the Immigration Department or other relevant department so designated by the Member State, evidence from the Competent Authority that concrete steps have been undertaken to establish the business. Where such evidence is provided, the CARICOM National will be granted an extension of 6 months.=Stamps for right of establishment
= There are specific stamps for the definite entry of 6 months, the extension of 6 months and the indefinite stay with the following text – * (i) Right of Establishment – Definite Entry of 6 Months; * (ii) Right of Establishment – Extension; and * (iii) Right of Establishment – Indefinite Entry. A CARICOM national whose passport is stamped with one of the above is automatically entitled to multiple entry into that Member State.=Integrated online registry
= From 8–10 December 2014, a meeting by Registrars of Companies from the 12 participating CSME member states was held to discuss the development of a complete online registry. The meeting was held in Saint Lucia and was convened by CARICOM Secretariat and funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) as part of the CSME and Economic Integration Programme. The Registrars of Companies across the region held the meeting to consider the proposal for the harmonization of online registries in the CSME participating Member States. This harmonization would be facilitated by the web interface and interoperability of the respective systems allowing users access to information from participating Member States. The objective of the initiative is for interested parties to be able to register businesses/companies online across Member States thereby increasing cross-border economic activity. The other issues that are down for discussion are the software and hardware requirements of the systems to be installed as well as training for data entry operators and other relevant users in the registries. The beneficiary Member States under the project are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Alfa XP Europe Limited is the company undertaking the consultancy.Temporary provision of services
While service providers may establish businesses under the right of establishment they may, however, make their services available in other member states using another mode, that is, by moving on a temporary basis. CARICOM Nationals who wish to move from one CARICOM Member State to another in order to provide such services on a temporary basis are required to register as a service provider in the Member State, where he/she is living and working in order to be issued with a certificate, which will facilitate the entry into another Member State. As with the establishment of businesses, there are approved procedures both at points of entry and after entry, regarding treatment of CARICOM nationals wishing to temporarily provide services. Critical to this process is the application for and the issuance of a certificate by the Competent Authority within the national's country, subject to the provision of proof relating to: *(a) CARICOM nationality; and *(b) competency to provide the service, or contract to offer service or letter from relevant association or reputable person or body. The certificate, the lifetime of which is indefinite, along with a valid passport and the contract to offer service or an invitation letter, must be presented to the Immigration officer at the port of entry, who should then grant the CARICOM National sufficient time to provide the service. A regime has also been approved in respect of the granting of extensions under this regime.=Entry procedure at point of entry for provision of temporary services
= CARICOM Nationals specifically wishing to move from one Member State to another to provide services on a temporary basis must present their certificate of registration as a CARICOM service provider at the point of entry to the Immigration Officer as proof that the CARICOM National is a service provider who is seeking to enter to provide services on a temporary basis. Other documents required are - * (i) a valid passport; *(ii) contract to offer service or invitation letter from a client. The Immigration Officer will grant the CARICOM National sufficient time to provide the service.=Procedure for the automatic extension of the stay for provision of temporary services
= In cases where the temporary service is not completed within the stipulated time period, an automatic extension must be requested from the Immigration Department. The automatic extension will be granted in order to enable the CARICOM National to complete the service once the service provider submits proof that the service is not yet completed. The automatic extension is based on rights enshrined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, namely non-discrimination (national treatment) and the right to provide a service through mode 4 – the movement of national persons. The process to extend the stay should not take longer than ten working days. (Main Source; JIS website on the CSME - see references)Abolition of work permits and the free movement of labour
The Free Movement of Skilled Persons, arises from an agreed CARICOM policy that was originally separate but related to the original Protocol II of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The agreed policy, called The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Free Movement of Persons Act, is now enacted legislation in all the CSME Member States. It provides for the free movement of certain categories of skilled labour, but according to the policy there is to be eventual free movement of all persons, originally by 2008, but now by 2009. Under this legislation, persons within these categories can qualify for Skills Certificates (which allow for the free movement across the region). Since the start of the CSM, eight categories of CARICOM nationals have been eligible for free movement throughout the CSME without the need for work permits. They are: University Graduates, Media Workers, Artistes, Musicians, Sportspersons, Managers, Technical and Supervisory Staff attached to a company and Self-Employed Persons/Service Providers. In addition the spouses and immediate dependent family members of these nationals will also be exempt from work permit requirements. At the July 2006 CARICOM Summit, it was agreed to allow for free movement of two more categories of skilled persons; tertiary-trained Teachers and Nurses. It was also agreed that higglers, artisans,Contingent Rights accompanying the free movement of skills
In addition to the right to move freely for the purposes of labour, it was intended that those persons exercising such rights would be able to have their spouses, children and other dependent accompany them and partake in complementary rights such as the right to access primary education, healthcare, transfer capital, access land and other property, work without needing a work permit and leave and re-enter the host country. Work on this Protocol on Contingent Rights started in 2008.CARICOM moves forward with Contingent Rights ProtocolNationality criteria
In relation to a number of issues such as professional services, residency and land ownership, legislation in the various member states used to discriminate in favour of their individual nationals. This legislation has been amended, as of 2005, to remove the discriminatory provisions. This will allow CARICOM nationals, for example, to be eligible for registration in their respective professions on an equal basis. However, shortly before signing onto the CSM, the second batch of member states (all in the OECS) negotiated an opt-out agreement with regards to land ownership by non-nationals. As the OECS members of the CSM are all small countries and have limited available land, they are allowed to keep their Alien Land Holding Laws or Alien Landholders Acts (which apply to the ownership of land by non-nationals), but will put in place mechanisms to ensure compliance with the Revised Treaty that will monitor the granting of access to land and the conditions of such access. As it now stands foreign companies or nationals have to seek legal permission to buy land. All other laws relating to discrimination in favour of member state nationals only have been amended though. Among the non-OECS members of the CSM, there are no restrictions on private land ownership by CARICOM nationals (although in Suriname, and possibly in the other members as well, restrictions still apply with regards to state-owned land). (Main Source; JIS website on the CSME - see references)Harmonization of legislation
The Revised Treaty also calls for harmonized regimes in a number of areas: Anti-dumping and countervailing measures, Banking and securities, Commercial arbitration, Competition policy, Consumer protection, Customs, Intellectual property rights, Regulation and labelling of food and drugs, Sanitary and phytosanitary measures, Standards and technical regulations & Subsidies. Draft model legislation is being developed by a CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility in collaboration with the Chief Parliamentary Counsels of the region (Main Source; JIS website on the CSME - see references)Free movement of capital
The free movement of capital involves the elimination of the various restrictions such as foreign exchange controls and allowing for the convertibility of currencies (already in effect) or a single currency and capital market integration via a regional stock exchange. The member states have also signed and ratified an Intra-Regional Double Taxation Agreement.Single currency
Although not expected until between 2010 and 2015, it is intended that the CSME will have a single currency. As it stands a number of the CSME members are already in a currency union with the Eastern Caribbean dollar and the strength of most regional currencies (with the exception of Jamaica's and Guyana's) should make any future exchange-rate harmonization between CSME members fairly straightforward as a step towards a monetary union. The aim of forming a CARICOM monetary union is not new. As a precursor to this idea the various CARICOM countries established a compensation procedure to favour the use of the member states currencies. The procedure was aimed at ensuring monetary stability and promoting trade development. This monetary compensation scheme was at first bilateral, but this system was limited and unwieldy because each member state had to have a separate account for each of its CARICOM trade partners and the accounts had to be individually balanced at the end of each credit period. The system became multilateral in 1977 and was called the CARICOM Multilateral Clearing Facility (CMCF). The CMCF was supposed to favour the use of internal CARICOM currencies for transaction settlement and to promote banking cooperation and monetary cooperation between member states. Each country was allowed a fixed credit line and initially the CMCF was successful enough that both the total credit line and the credit period were extended by 1982. However, the CMCF failed shortly thereafter in the early 1980s due to Guyana's inability to settle its debts and Barbados being unable to grant new payment terms Despite the failure of the CMCF, in 1992 the CARICOM Heads of Government determined that CARICOM should move towards monetary integration and commissioned their central bankers to study the possible creation of a monetary union among CARICOM countries. It was argued that monetary integration would provide benefits such as exchange rate and price stability and reduced transaction costs in regional trade. It was also thought that these benefits in turn would stimulate capital flows, intra-regional trade and investment, improve balance of payments performance and increase growth and employment. The Central Bank Governors produced a report in March 1992 that outlined the necessary steps and criteria for a monetary union by 2000. The 1992 criteria were amended in 1996 and were known as the 3-12-36-15 criteria. They required that: * countries maintain foreign reserves equivalent to 3 months of import cover or 80% of central bank current liabilities (whichever was greater) for 12 months; *the exchange rate be maintained at a fixed rate to the US dollar (for Fixers) or within a band of 1.5% on either side of parity (for Floaters) for 36 consecutive months without external debt payment arrears and; *the debt service ratio to be maintained within 15% of the export of goods and services. The report envisioned the fulfilment of a monetary union in 3 phases on the basis of grouping the member states into 2 categories, A and B. Category A included the Bahamas, Belize and OECS states. Category A countries had already met the original criteria in 1992 and only had to maintain economic stability to begin the monetary union. Category B consisted of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago (Suriname and Haiti were not yet members and so were not included). These countries had to make the necessary adjustments to meet the entry criteria. Phase 1 of the monetary union process was scheduled to conclude in 1996. It was to include the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the OECS states and Trinidad and Tobago and there was to have been a common currency as a unit of account (cf. the Euro from 1999 to 2002) amongst these states with the exception of the Bahamas and Belize. This phase would also involve the coordination of monetary policies and the movement towards intra-regional currency convertibility among all member states. Phase 1 would also have seen the formation of a Council of CARICOM Central Bank Governors to oversee the entire process. Phase 2 was to have occurred between 1997 and 2000 and should have seen a number of initiatives: *the formation of a Caribbean Monetary Authority (CMA), which would be accountable to a Council of Ministers of Finance. *the issuance and circulation of a physical common currency in all Phase 1 countries except the Bahamas. *the use of the new currency in the other countries (the Bahamas, Guyana and Jamaica) as a unit of account in settling regional transactions. *the continued efforts by Guyana and Jamaica to meet the criteria for entry into the monetary union if they had not already done so and achieved economic stability. Phase 3 was planned to begin in 2000 and had as its ultimate goal to have all CARICOM countries entering into the monetary union and membership of the CMA. However, the implementation of Phase 1 was put on hold in 1993 as a result of Trinidad and Tobago floating its dollar. In response and in an effort to continue pursuing monetary cooperation and integration, CARICOM Central Bank Governors made their regional currencies fully inter-convertible. A subsequent proposal called for Barbados, Belize and the OECS states to form a currency union by 1997 but this also failed.Development fund
One of the institutions and regimes created to give life to the regional integration movement through the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, is the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF). It forms a critical part of the community's aim for equitable engagement among its member states. The idea for the CDF was borrowed substantially from a similar mechanism successfully employed the European Union (the EU'sGovernance
The CDF, as established in the agreement, has its own legal identity but is linked to CARICOM through several Ministerial Councils. The CDF is governed by its own corporate board and is managed by the CEO. Ambassador McDonnough assumed the post of CEO in November 2008 joining Ms. Fay Housty, Senior Advisor, Corporate Governance and Development and Mr. Lenox Forte, Manager, Corporate Development and Programming. These two officers were seconded from the CARICOM Secretariat. The CDF began its existence from three temporary offices within CARICOM's CSME Unit in the Tom Adams Financial Centre, Bridgetown, Barbados. The team spent the first three months looking for alternative office space, preparing the work plan and budget, seeking funding for the preparation of its governance rules and procedures in addition to beginning the process of recruiting the core executive and administrative staff. The CDF moved into its current temporary office in the renovated Old Town Hall Building in Bridgetown at the end of January 2009. This space was provided by the Government of Barbados as the CDF continued to work with it on acquiring its more permanent premises by middle of 2010. The new permanent facilities for the CDF were located in a new building located at Mall Internationale, Haggatt Hall, St. Michael, Barbados. This building also housed the new permanent offices of two departments of the CARICOM Secretariat - the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) and the CSME Unit. The new offices were officially opened on Monday, December 3, 2012 by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart.Capitalisation
All member states are required to contribute to the capital of the fund on the basis of a formula agreed on by the CARICOM heads of government. In 2009 the CDF was capitalised at US$79.9 million. It was envisaged that by the end of the 2009 member states would have contributed approximately US$87 million. The CDF also has the remit to raise a further US$130 million from donors and friendly states. The CDF also benefited in 2009 from technical assistance grants of US$149,000 from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and €834,000 from the European Union (EU) Institutional Support Facility in addition to a 2009 contribution of €300,000 signalling the start of a closer relationship between the Government of Finland and CARICOM. The Government of Turkey also provided support to the countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to assist them in making their contribution to the CDF's capital fund. By 2011 the CDF was capitalised at US$100.7 million, with the total funds increasing to US$107 million by 2012. Following a meeting of a CDF team with the member states' Technical Working Group (TWG), Ambassador McDonnough made recommendation on the replenishment of the CDF during the Second Funding Cycle. These recommendations were accepted by the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government in May 2015, it was confirmed that CARICOM member states will provide US$65.84 million in new funding for the CDF in its Second Funding Cycle, due to commence on 1 July 2015. This amount will also be supplemented by US$10.2 million of carry-over funds, bringing a total of US$76 million for the Second Funding Cycle. Trinidad and Tobago, the largest contributor, confirmed that it was providing US$40 million to the CDF. Both the governments of Haiti and Montserrat expressed their desire to become members of the CDF during its Second Funding Cycle.Beneficiaries
Whilst all members of the CSME contributing to the CDF are eligible to receive financial and technical assistance support from the fund, only the designated disadvantaged countries - the LDCs (OECS and Belize) and Guyana (as a Highly Indebted Poor Country) will have access to resources during the first contribution cycle which runs from 2008 to 2014. To identify the needs of the eligible member states and to inform the CDF Board as it signed off on governance rules and regulations, needs assessment consultations were undertaken to the LDCs and Guyana. Informed by these consultations and consistent with its remit to address disparities resulting from the implementation of the CSME, the CDF will focus on disbursing concessionary loans and grants that address objectives related to the implementation of the CSME, preferably small-to-medium size projects of a short implementation period. The details of the criteria for project selection can be found in the CDF Appraisal and Disbursement guidelines on www.csmeonline.org . In an attempt to guarantee the sustainability of the CDF capital fund, the size of direct loans will range between US$500,000 and US$4 million; the minimum size of grants will be US$20,000. In each contribution cycle, the board will earmark up to US$10 million to finance private sector projects that are regional or sub-regional in scope. The CDF will also look to work with its development partners in leveraging the technical assistance it can provide.Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System
Article 239 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas obliges Member States to “elaborate a Protocol relating... to... Government Procurement.” To date, the Community has undertaken and concluded a significant volume of work regarding the establishment of a Community Regime for Public Procurement. A project was commissioned in 2003 by the CARICOM Secretariat with a grant from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The object of the project was to support CARICOM in its efforts to establish an effective regional regime for Public Procurement which would facilitate the full implementation of the CSME and to participate effectively in external trade negotiations relating to Public Procurement. The project comprised three main components. Component 1 – National Government Procurement Frameworks: Analysis, Comparison and Recommended Improvements; Component 2 – Collection and Analysis of Government Procurement Statistics; and Component 3 – Recommendations for a Regional Best-practice Regime for Government Procurement. Altogether, the outputs of the project informed the preparation of the first draft of the Framework Regional Integration Policy on Public Procurement (FRIP). The First Draft of the Community Policy on Public Procurement was developed and disseminated to Member States for review in 2005. By April 2006 the Second Draft was finalized. In 2011, the Fourth Draft, which reflects the recommended amendments to the Third Draft, was adopted. The proposed policy now called the Framework for Regional Integration of Public Procurement (FRIPP) is in its fifth draft stage. Among the findings of the 2003 project were that: *competitive public procurement regimes in the CARICOM Member States are in a disarray and dysfunctional; Public Procurement accounts for a significant percentage of public expenditure *the current legislation governing procurement in CARICOM Member States is made up of poorly coordinated and outdated enactments, regulations and decrees *the weakness of legislation and/or their enforcement breeds many abusive and manipulative practices in public procurement *enforcement of procurement rules is extremely weak and sometimes non-existent due to the absence of a single regulatory authority *the rights of bidders are not adequately protected; capacity to conduct procurement is extremely weak *Public Procurement is severely under-developed and rated as high risk *internal and external procurement controls are inadequate *procurement related corruption is a major problem *due to the small size of individual economies, the private sector actively seeks public procurement opportunities, albeit with little or no confidence in the integrity of the public procurement system The general conclusion was that the present procurement regimes are counter productive towards the efforts of CSME. The dismal picture painted by the findings of the CARICOM research project demonstrated the dire need for comprehensive procurement reform. One of the significant recommendations of the project was that the proposed regional and domestic public procurement legislative and policy reforms should be based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Between April and June 2014, a consultancy conducted by Analysis Mason Ltd. was conducted in 13 Caricom countries (excepting Haiti and the Bahamas) and provided the CARICOM Secretariat and its Member States with the recommendations on the required Information Technology (IT) infrastructure for the establishment of a fully functioning Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System (RIEPPS). The new IT-based system is being proposed whereby businesses in Caricom countries can bid on government contracts in member states. The proposed regionally integrated Government Procurement system would bring further life to the CSME single market component, allowing for an effective means for businesses of CARICOM member states to operate in each other's countries. The arrangement is being structured in such manner as to allow certain contracts to be retained for national businesses, while others are open to regional bidding processes. The work plan calls for a common regional IT infrastructure, supported by legislative protocols and a business development component that would help to stimulate the intra-regional procurement activities. All of these components are being undertaken simultaneously with a view towards achieving possible implementation by the end of 2014 but certainly by 2016. The estimated market for regional procurement is approximately US$17 billion annually among the region of five and a half million people (with the exception of Haiti). The government is one of the biggest single sectors in every economy in Caricom, so one of the possible solutions to the aim of boosting intra-regional trade, and for each country to generate business and create employment, is to open the market for government procurement. A reform of the procurement systems and processes in every country where the project is to be implemented will also be undertaken, as well as the installation of relevant IT hardware and software and the training of required personnel. One of the important hurdles to be overcome for full implementation of the programme will be the need to ensure that every country has legislation that allows transactions of this type to be done electronically. “Many states up to this point still operate with Finance and Administration Acts, rather than a procurement law. Several of them do have an Electronic Transactions Act, but it may not speak specifically to procurement in the public domain. So, one of the things that CARICOM will be responsible for doing under the project is to prepare the protocol and the supporting implementing law and rules,” explained Ivor Carryl, Programme Manager, Caricom Single Market and Economy, CARICOM Secretariat. Under the CARICOM Regional Integration Electronic Public Procurement System, traders of goods and services will have protection from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). According to Ivor Carryl, a Regional public procurement notice board will be created for member states to post their contracts, and where any player feels that unfairness is involved in the award of the contracts, the CCJ can be called on to adjudicate. “In Article 7, which deals with non-discriminatory, equal treatment and fairness, all of your domestic laws and practices relating to CARICOM, must mirror those provisions,” Carryl told JIS News in an interview. “If a Jamaican company under the protocol submits a bid, and for some reason he feels aggrieved that the process (the tender evaluation) didn’t go right, he would have the right under the Treaty to challenge the procuring entity, and ask them to explain why he did not win the bid; and he has the right to go to court and challenge the decision,” the CARICOM official added. Mr. Carryl explains that under the Regional Procurement Regime, the appeal mechanism has been strengthened, so persons will have easier access in seeking redress.Single Jurisdiction
In August 2014, CARICOM initiated work toward creating a harmonized framework for companies and other businesses can be established and operate within the CSME. This Single Jurisdiction should ensure that the rules for establishing and operating a business in one country apply throughout the CSME. Starting in June 2015, the CARICOM Secretariat began a series of national consultations to discuss the Draft Framework Policy on the Single Jurisdiction. The aim of the Single Jurisdiction is to create a seamless space for companies can conduct business. When established it would enable businesses, once registered in one participating member state of the CSME, to operate in any other CSME member state without needing to register in that other member state. Thus in essence it will allow businesses to register anywhere within the CSME and operate throughout the Single Market. The creation of the Single Jurisdiction is seen to be crucial to allow for the proper implementation of the Right Establishment under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and should be of significant benefit to those exercising this right.Footnotes
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