The Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean have been

pursuing economic integration in the region for a long time. The

negotiating power of Latin American and Caribbean countries has

increased over the years and this has resulted in new free trade

agreements and improved dispute settlement systems. Among the

most important regional trade agreements (ALADI, MERCOSUR and

The Andean Pact) there is the Caribbean Common Market.

 

 

Commercial agreements are keys in the Caribbean region, as the

economies of all the nations are fundamentally dependent on trade.1

Thus, in order to surmount the fragility of Caribbean economy,2

commercial alliances have been historically enacted.3

 

 

With the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which

established the Caribbean Community including the Caribbean

Common Market on 4 July 1973, the goal was to consolidate regional

power in order to improve the labour and work standards of citizens

and to promote economic development and the expansion of trade.

 

 

The original Treaty of Chaguaramas was the result of initiatives

towards economic and political integration within the

Commonwealth Caribbean Community.4 In fact, it was originally

signed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Recently, Caribbean countries outside the Commonwealth have been

accepted under the Treaty. These include Suriname and Haiti.5

 

 

By 1989, heads of states from the CARICOM member states—

Bahamas, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica,

Montserrat, Haiti, Guyana, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and

the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago—decided to

transform the common market into a consolidated single market and

engaged in another round of treaty revisions in order to expand on

the terms of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. The outcome was the

Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), which is focused on economic
and trade matters and not on political integration.6