Chapter One : Principles

Member States shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure the carrying out of obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from decisions taken by the Organs and Bodies of the Community. They shall facilitate the achievement of the objectives of the Community.  They shall abstain from any measures which could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of this Treaty.

Subject to the provisions of this Treaty, each Member State shall, with respect to any rights covered by this Treaty, accord to another Member State treatment no less favourable than that accorded to:

(a)        a third Member State; or

(b)        third States.

The Community shall have the following objectives: (a)        improved standards of living and work;

(b)        full employment of labour and other factors of production;

(c)        accelerated,  co-ordinated  and  sustained  economic  development  and convergence;

(d)        expansion of trade and economic relations with third States; (e)        enhanced levels of international competitiveness;

(f)         organisation for increased production and productivity;

(g)        the  achievement  of  a  greater  measure  of  economic  leverage  and effectiveness of Member States in dealing with third States, groups of States and entities of any description;

(h)        enhanced co-ordination of Member States’ foreign and [foreign] economic policies; and

(i)         enhanced functional co-operation, including –

(i)         more efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its peoples;

(ii)        accelerated promotion of greater understanding among its peoples and the advancement of their social, cultural and technological development;

(iii)        intensified   activities   in   areas   such   as   health,   education, transportation, telecommunications.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4 and paragraph 1 of Article 28, the
Conference may, by majority decision, modify the status of a Member State.

1. Within the scope of application of this Treaty and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein, any discrimination on grounds of nationality only shall be prohibited.

2. The Community Council shall, after consultation with the competent Organs, establish rules to prohibit any such

Members of the Community consist of:
(a)        Antigua and Barbuda

(b)        The Bahamas

(c)        Barbados

(d)        Belize

(e)        Dominica

(f)        Grenada

(g)        Guyana

(h)        Jamaica

(i)         Montserrat

(j)         St. Kitts and Nevis

(k)        Saint Lucia

(l)        St. Vincent and the Grenadines

(m)       Suriname

(n)        Trinidad and Tobago.

 

2.   Membership of the Community shall be open to any other State or Territory of the Caribbean Region that is, in the opinion of the Conference, able and willing to exercise the rights and assume the obligations of membership.

For the purpose of this Treaty the States specified in sub-paragraphs 1(b), (c), (g),  (h), (m) and (n) of Article 3 shall be more developed countries and the remainder listed in the said paragraph shall be less developed countries.

 

The Community is hereby established and recognised in the Protocol hereto as  successor to the Caribbean Community and Common Market.

In this Treaty, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Agreement” means the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice; “anti-competitive business conduct” has the meaning assigned to it in Article 173; “Budget Committee” means the Body of the Community established by paragraph

1 of Article 18;

“business” means any activity carried on for gain or reward or in the course of which goods or services are produced, manufactured or supplied as the case may be;

“Commission” means the Competition Commission established by Article 167;

“Committee of Central Bank Governors” means the Body of the Community referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 18;

“Community” means the Caribbean Community established by Article 2 and includes the CSME established by the provisions of this Treaty;

“Community Council of  Ministers” or “the Community Council” means  the

Organ of the Community so named in paragraph 1(b) of Article 10;

“Community origin” means origin which complies with the Rules of Origin set out in Article 78;

“Community treatment” means the access accorded to goods which are of Community origin to the markets of Member States without the application of import duties or quantitative restrictions;

“competent authority” means the authority legally authorised to perform a function and for the purpose of Chapter Five means the Minister of Government so designated by a Member State;

“Conference of Heads of Government” or “the Conference” means the Organ so named in paragraph 1(a) of Article 10;

“Contracting Party” means a party to the Agreement;

“Council for Human and Social Development” or “COHSOD” means the Organ of the Community so named in paragraph 2 of Article 10;

“Council for Finance and Planning” or “COFAP” means the Organ of the

Community so named in paragraph 2(a) of Article 10;

“Council for Foreign and Community Relations” or “COFCOR” means the Organ

so named in paragraph 2(c) of Article 10;

“Council for Trade and Economic Development” or “COTED” means the Organ of the Community so named in paragraph 2(b) of Article 10;

“Court” means the Caribbean Court of Justice established by the Agreement;

“the CSME” means the regime established by the provisions of this Treaty replacing Chapters Three through Seven of the Annex to the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community and Common Market signed at Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973;

“disadvantaged countries” means:

(a)        the Less Developed Countries within the meaning of Article 4; or

 

(b)        Member States that may require special support measures of a transitional or temporary nature by reason of:

 

(i)         impairment of resources resulting from natural disasters; or

 

(ii)        the  adverse  impact  of  the  operation  of  the  CSME  on  their economies; or

 

(iii)        temporary low levels of economic development; or

 

(iv)       being a Highly-Indebted Poor Country designated as such by the competent inter-governmental organisation;

 

“disadvantaged regions” means:

(a)        regions within Member States experiencing economic dislocation from the operation of the CSME; or

(b)        regions that may require special support measures of a transitional or temporary nature by reason of:

(i)         impairment of resources resulting from natural disasters; or

(ii)        temporary low levels of economic development;

“disadvantaged sectors” means:

(a)        sectors of the economies of Member States in which economic enterprises experience dislocation from the operation of the CSME; or

(b)        sectors that may require special support measures of a transitional or temporary nature by reason of natural disasters, whereby the loss in the sector causes social and economic disorder;

“dispute” means a dispute within the meaning of Article 183;

“economic enterprises” means  economic enterprises within  the  meaning  of paragraph 5(b) of Article 32;

“enterprise” means any person or type of organisation, other than a non-profit

organisation, involved in the production of or the trade in goods, or the provision of services;

“goods” means all kinds of property other than real property, money, securities or choses in action;

“import duties” means any tax or surtax of customs and any other charges of equivalent effect whether fiscal, monetary or exchange, which are levied on imports except those notified under Article 85 and other charges which fall within that Article;

“Legal Affairs Committee” means the Body established by paragraph 1 of Article

18;

“Member State” means a Member State of the Community excluding an Associate

Member within the meaning of Article 231;

“Ministerial Councils” means COFAP, COFCOR, COHSOD and COTED; “national” means a national within the meaning of paragraph 5(a) of Article 32; “President” means the President of the Court;

“recommended practice” means any specification for physical characteristics, configuration, material, performance, personnel or procedure, the uniform application of which is regionally or generally recognised in the international community as desirable for the efficient delivery of transport services;

“rules of competition” includes the rules set out in sub-paragraph (a)(i) of paragraph

1 of Article 166 and Articles 176, 177, 178 and 179;

“Secretariat” means the Secretariat of the Community referred to in Article 23;

“Secretary-General” means the Secretary-General of the Community;

“services” means services provided against remuneration other than wages in an approved sector and “the provision of services” means the supply of services:

 

(a)        from the territory of one Member State into the territory of another Member

State;

 

(b)        in the territory of one Member State to a service consumer of another

Member State;

 

(c)        by a service supplier of one Member State through commercial presence in the territory of another Member State; and

 

(d)        by a service supplier of one Member State through the presence of natural persons of a Member State in the territory of another Member State;

 

“standard” means any specification for physical characteristics, configuration, material, performance, personnel or procedure, the uniform application of which is regionally or generally recognised in the international community as necessary for the efficient delivery of transport services;

 

“subsidies” includes the subsidies set out in Schedule V and shall apply only in relation to goods;

 

“trade” includes any business, industry, profession or occupation relating to the supply or acquisition of goods or services;

 

“WTO Agreement” means the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994.