The end of the Federation meant the beginning of more serious efforts on the part of the political leaders in the Caribbean to strengthen the ties between the islands and mainland by providing for the continuance and strengthening of the areas of cooperation that existed during the Federation. To this end in mid-1962 a Common Services Conference was called to take decisions on these services, the major ones among them being the University of the West Indies (UWI), founded in 1948 and the Regional Shipping Services set up during the Federation to control the operation of the two ships donated in 1962 by the government of Canada - the Federal Palm and the Federal Maple.

The Caribbean Meteorological Service was established one year after, in 1963 and along with the UWI and the Regional Shipping Service, represented the heart of Caribbean cooperation directly after the end of the Federation.

In addition to the decision to continue the process of inter-state cooperation, notwithstanding the dissolution of the Federation, the year 1962 also marked two important developments of a Caribbean Community: the attainment of independence by both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in August that year and with it the power to control their own domestic and external affairs.

In announcing its intention to withdraw from the Federation, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago proposed the creation of a Caribbean Community, consisting not only of the 10 members of the Federation, but also of the three Guianas and all the islands of the Caribbean Sea - both independent and non-independent.

To discuss this concept, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago convened the first Heads of Government Conference in July 1963, in Trinidad and Tobago. This Conference was attended by the leaders of Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. At this Conference, the leaders of the four(4) Caribbean Countries all spoke clearly of the need for close cooperation with Europe, Africa and Latin America.

The first Heads of Government Conference proved to be the first in a series of Conferences among the leaders of Commonwealth Caribbean Countries. In July 1965, talks between the Premiers of Barbados and British Guiana and the Chief Minister of Antigua on the possible establishment of a Free Trade Area in the Caribbean resulted in the announcement that month of definite plans to establish such a Free Trade Area. This was carried further in December that year (1965), when the Heads of Government of Antigua, Barbados and British Guiana signed an Agreement at Dickenson Bay, Antigua, to set up the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA).

In the interest of common action and close cooperation among all the Commonwealth Caribbean territories, the actual start of the Free Trade Association was deliberately delayed in order to allow the rest of the Region, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica and all the Windward and Leeward islands to become members of the newly formed Free Trade Association.

The Fourth Heads of Government Conference agreed to establish CARIFTA formally and to include as many Commonwealth Countries as possible in a new agreement of December 1965. It was also agreed that the Free Trade Association was to be the beginning of what would become the Caribbean Common Market which would be established (through a number of stages) for the achievement of a viable Economic Community of Caribbean Territories.

At the same time in recognition of their special development problems, several special provisions were agreed upon for the benefit of the seven Member States, which now make up the OECS States and Belize.

The new CARIFTA agreement came into effect on May 1, 1968, with the participation of Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The original idea to permit all territories in the Region to participate in the Association was achieved later that year with the entry of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent in July and of Jamaica and Montserrat on August 1, 1968. British Honduras (Belize) became a member in May 1971.

Emerging also from the 1967 Heads of Government Conference was the establishment of the Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Secretariat on May 1, 1968 in Georgetown Guyana and of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in October 1969 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

It was at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October 1972, that the Caribbean Leaders decided to transform CARIFTA into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community of which the Common Market would be an integral part.

At the Eighth Heads of Government Conference of CARIFTA held in April 1973 in Georgetown, Guyana the decision to establish the Caribbean Community was brought into fruition with the consideration of Heads of Government of the draft legal instruments and with the signing by 11 members of CARIFTA (the exception being Antigua and Montserrat).

The Accord provided for the signature of the Caribbean Community Treaty on July 4 and its coming into effect in August 1973, among the then four independent countries: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

The Georgetown Accord also provided that the other eight territories - Antigua, British Honduras, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla and St. Vincent which signed the Accord would become full members of the Community by May 1, 1974.

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was signed by Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago and came into effect on August 1, 1973. Subsequently the other eight Caribbean territories joint CARICOM. The Bahamas became the 13th Member State of the Community on July 4, 1983, but not a member of the Common Market.

In July 1991, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos became Associated Members of CARICOM, followed by Anguilla in July 1999. The Cayman Islands became the fourth Associate Member of the regional grouping on 16 May 2002, and Bermuda the fifth Associate Member on 2 July 2003.

A number of States in Latin America and the wider Caribbean came on board as Observers in the various Organs and Institutions of the Community, and Puerto Rico, the first Overseas Commonwealth Territory of the USA is also seeking closer ties with CARICOM.

Suriname became the 14th Member State of the Caribbean Community on July 4, 1995.

Haiti secured provisional membership on 4 July 1998 and on 03 July 2002 was the first French-speaking Caribbean State to become a full Member of CARICOM. The Community is supporting this French-speaking nation in effectively participating in the regional integration movement. In 2001, CARICOM Secretariat established an office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, to provide technical assistance to the Government.

From its inception, the Community has concentrated on the promotion of functional cooperation, especially in relation to human and social development, and in integrating the economies of Member States.

The independent Member States however, have also been pursuing a coordinated foreign policy.

All these initiatives are being supported by structural developments and adjustments to bridge gaps, eliminate barriers and forge a unified response among the stakeholders of the Region in response to the challenging circumstances to secure a viable and sustainable Community, with improved quality of life for all its peoples.

The challenging circumstances of the integration movement does not only pertain to its economic welfare. In fact, the Region as a whole has not been spared the impact of the deadly scourge of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and narco-trafficking.

CARICOM, in a counter-attack, is mobilising a region-wide response in combat against these dreaded forces which threaten the very fabric of the society, more particularly its most precious resource, the Youth.

The Community had similarly rallied to the cause of sister state Montserrat when, in 1995, the Soufriere Hills Volcano erupted and devastated two-thirds of the island. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), an Associate Institution, coordinated assistance from Member States to Montserrat. Reconstruction is now well under way, and the Community is supporting the Government and people in the process.

The Community is also responding to a regional framework prioritising the social and economic issues of the Community. Among the key partners in the process are the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) and the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), working along with the Governmental machinery.

Some of the more recent areas they have been addressing include the CSME, external trade negotiations, air transport and maritime infrastructure policy and development; telecommunications policy; and employment generation.

At the Eighth CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in 1987, the then Prime Minister of Barbados , Erskine Sandiford, advanced the concept of a representative, deliberate institution, which would associate the people of the Region, through their chosen representatives, with the task of promoting the Regional development process.

Two years later, at the 10th Conference of Heads of Government in Grenada, Barbados followed up with a discussion paper outlining the proposal to the Conference. In March 1990, agreement was reached on a draft Inter Governmental Agreement providing for the establishment of the proposed body, the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP) which brings on board the parliamentary opposition to contribute to the Community's decision-making process. The inaugural sitting of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP), took place in Barbados on May 27-29, 1996. There have been two other Sittings since, the Second Sitting in Grenada on 14 October 1999, and the Third Sitting in Belize, 17-20 November 2000.

It was also at the Eighth Meeting of the Conference that the decision was taken to establish the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), to replace the Common Market, strategically positioning the Community to participate in the globalised arena.

Preparations for the establishment of the CSME included the negotiation of nine Protocols which effectively amended the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which established the Caribbean Community and Common Market (the Revised Treaty). Protocol 1, providing for the restructuring of the Organs and Institutions of the Community, and redefining their functional relationship entered into force provisionally on July 4, 1997, and by early year 2000, the last two remaining Protocols were signed, signaling a major stride towards the realisation of the CSME.

At this time, too, the Community was to experience national democratic challenges in three Member States, first in Guyana, and then Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis. CARICOM's role in these instances displayed strength of regional purpose, and its central role in the national cause of its Member States continues to be an effective influence in the sphere of governance, which basically is a new and dynamic feature of the regional integration movement.

In performing this critical role, CARICOM is empowered by the Charter of Civil Society, which, according to the Protocol of Port of Spain of 1992, the leaders in accepting the recommendation for the Charter declared that "a CARICOM Charter for Civil Society be developed as an important element of the Community's structure of unity to deal with matters such as free press; a fair and open democratic process; the effective functioning of the parliamentary system; morality in public affairs; respect for fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights; the rights of women and children; respect for religious diversity; and greater accountability and transparency in government".

In February 1997, in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, the leaders in affixing their signatures to the Resolution adopting the Charter of Civil Society effected one of the strongest recommendations from the West Indian Commission (WIC) report, "Time for Action". two years later another major institutional framework for the Community's governance began taking shape.

At the Nineteenth meeting in 1999, the Heads of Government adopted in principle the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Supreme Court which they decided then should be named the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Meanwhile, the leaders were engaged in an all-out effort to stem the threatening circumstances of the Caribbean Sea, the economic lifeline of the Region. In March 1999, and again in July 1999, they set about rejecting the Caribbean Sea as a transit for nuclear waste materials. They were mobilised to protect the Region's waterway ecological fragility and economic importance for the well-being of the people of the Region who depended on this unique resource for their very existence. The leaders appealed to the United States of America, with its responsibility for the passage of vessels through the Panama Canal, to use its authority to prohibit the shipment of hazardous nuclear materials via that route and into the Caribbean.

The leadership has since taken the Region's cause to the United Nations and has secured support to pursue a sustainable development management plan for the Caribbean Sea.

New challenges emerged late 2001, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. In less than two months after the regular Meeting of the Conference , CARICOM Heads were once again meeting in the Bahamas, this time to craft an emergency response to rescue the Tourism industry, the Region's vital economic sector - some 25% of the Region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a significant share of the Region's employment force - from virtual ruin.

The political leadership joined forces with regional and international tourism bodies to initiate a major campaign to save the Region's largest industry.

The latest development in this vital economic sector is a more focused and intensified regional cooperation to promote the Caribbean Region as a single destination. In which case, innovative strategies will be designed to strengthen the industry into a new dynamic tourism product in the global market.

Meanwhile, CARICOM is forging ahead with a comprehensive initiative to enhance the coordination of the foreign policies of Member States and as a sub-regional body building new relationships and consolidating existing ones, namely with the United Nations System, the Organisation of American States (OAS), and regional groupings such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and bilateral arrangements within the wider Caribbean and Latin America.

Moreover, these developments are not without lucrative prospects for the Region. In December 2001, CARICOM concluded its first free trade agreement with the entry into force of the CARICOM/Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement.

This record achievement is similarly represented in the widening process of the Caribbean as notable hemispheric pursuits. The establishment in 1994 of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the brainchild of CARICOM, and the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) which convened its first session in 1993, are major hemispheric links of the Community.

At the global level, CARICOM sought to strengthen its negotiating base. Thus in 1997, the Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) was established to coordinate the Community's external negotiations. The priority areas of focus are the FTAA, Post Lome IV, ACP-EU Relations, non-economic initiatives of the Miami Summit including the Second Summit, and the World Trade Organisation. At the beginning of 2002, the RNM was set in a new mode in response to changes in the challenging global arena.

By the end of 1999, the Heads of Government of the Community was setting a new pace for the regional integration process. The leaders had already been assigned specific responsibilities relating to the establishment of the CSME, and early 2000 a quasi-cabinet was formulated. The leaders are each tasked with specific portfolios.

The Heads of Government meeting at the Seventh Special Meeting of the Conference in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago in October of 1999 engaged themselves in stocktaking, revisiting the Grand Anse Declaration of 1989 and examining the Work Programme adopted then, and they assessed the progress made in the implementation of the measures they had designed to take the integration movement forward into the last decade of the century. They also looked at the West Indian Commission Report Time for Action which followed their 1989 deliberations.

The results of their deliberations were formulated into the Consensus of Chaguaramas. The political leaders are now looking to now looking to engage Civil Society in charting the course forward into the new millennium.

The first such engagement was convened the following year to specifically look at the implementation of the CSME. The stakeholders of the Community met again in 2001 with a view to collaborating on an agenda for the Community's development under the theme "Forward Together".

One of the significant developments at the beginning of the new century was the fact that in 2001, Heads of Government had signed the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, thus clearing the way for the transformation of the Common Market aspect of CARICOM.

This not withstanding, and benefiting from the interaction with Civil Society, allowances have been made for the subsequent inclusion in the Treaty, by way of additional Protocols, new issues such as e-commerce, government procurement, trade in goods from free zones, free circulation of goods and the rights contingent on the free movement of persons. Of special significance, too, was the inauguration of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) in November, based in Barbados. CARTAC is designed to play a significant role in the next phase of Caribbean development. Through its advisory and training functions, CARTAC is expected to fill, on a sustainable basis, a vital gap in the regional institutional capacity - public expenditure management, tax and customs administration, financial sector management, and in the compilation of economic statistics.

At the 12th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference, the Heads signed the agreement for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice, emphasising the central role of the Court in providing legal certainty to the operations of the CSME. In fact, by the end of the first year into the new millennium, the basic legal framework for the establishment of the CSME was in place.

The Heads of Government in carrying out their first responsibility in accordance with the Revised Treaty, consequent upon the provisions of Protocol VII, have designated as Disadvantaged Countries the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) as identified by Article III of the Treaty of Chaguaramas - Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guyana identified by the international community as a Highly Indebted Poor Country. This Protocol provides for support to countries, regions and sectors so designate.

A quarter of a century after the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, CARICOM has evolved into an important player on the hemispheric and international stage, influencing the discussions on a wide range of critical social, economic and political issues. Critical to its progress, however, is the CSME in determining the future of the Region, both for its internal preservation and external fortitude.

The integrated protocols of the Treaty representing the advanced position of the evolution of the Community, a fraternity that now embraces the peoples of the English, Dutch and French-speaking Caribbean, representing both independent and non-independent states.