Editorial | CARICOM at 50

If we are frank, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), despite its self-congratulatory declaration of being, as its secretary general, Carla Barnett, puts it, “the longest existing economic integration movement among developing countries”, cannot claim to have achievements commensurate with its half-a-century of existence.

July will mark 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Community and Common Market, which has pretensions of being a single market and economy. Except that its member states consistently falter at the point of ceding some of their sovereign authority and domestic interests to the benefit of the supranational entity, to give real expression to their ambitions.

The upshot is that while CARICOM has worked relatively well in areas of functional cooperation, its “implementation deficit” on critical economic undertakings has limited its ability to test its viability as a robust economic union. Put another way, the Caribbean’s prevailing disappointment with CARICOM is largely because of its failure to make an economic breakthrough.

This newspaper, nonetheless, maintains its support for, and commitment to, the broad aims of CARICOM, whose intent is enhanced in an environment of global uncertainty, where the concerns of small and vulnerable states are trumped by the interests of the powerful few. The potential product of CARICOM, we insist, is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

URGENTLY IMPLEMENT

That is why the community must urgently implement the protocols approved last year to give like-minded members space to pursue agreed initiatives among themselves, while others make up their minds on when to join. Further, CARICOM must ensure that its 50th year counts as far more than a celebratory event. It should also be a time of frank analysis of the achievements and shortcomings of the arrangement, and of what is required for the community to radically improve its performance.

In this regard, there is much with which to work in the 2020 report by Avinash Persaud’s commission on advancing the community, as well as in other initiatives advanced by CARICOM’S heads of government of the past year. Not least of these was their proposal for a 25 per cent reduction of the region’s food imports by 2025 and a concomitant increase in its agricultural production.

The discussions, or preferably, a process of deep reflection, must be outward-facing. The community’s political and technocratic leaders ought to directly engage citizens, rather than, as is their wont, merely talk among themselves and to the people of the community in a babel of technocracy.

Given the importance of this task, it is unfortunate, we feel, that because of the half-yearly rotational exchanges of the chair, that Phillip Davis, the Bahamian prime minister, will substantially be one to set the tone for CARICOM for the first six months of 2023.

While The Bahamas participates in CARICOM’s functional cooperation endeavours, it has not signed on to its economic agreements. It is not a member of the evolving single market. It shows no inclination of becoming one.

So, while Mr Davis, at the start of his chairmanship, declared CARICOM to be “at a tipping point, where it is imperative that we build on and strengthen the foundations of the past 50 years”, his focus was primarily on regional security and on working jointly to influence global political and economic action. There seemed to be little, or no emphasis on internal market/economic dynamics, except for the agricultural initiatives.

VERY IMPORTANT DECISION

By contrast, Dr Barnett, the secretary general, in her review of last year, listed the “very important decision … to provide for enhanced cooperation among member states” as being among the community’s signature achievements in 2022.

“This allows for the member states that are ready to implement decisions to proceed with these, while the others can join when they are able to do so,” she observed. The decision would help in “accelerating the progress” with the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.

The idea of a multi-track CARICOM, reprised by the Persaud Commission, once ratified, will allow a minimum of four members to implement agreed initiatives if two-thirds of the members approve. Other states can join at their convenience.

This should help ease the implementation logjam.

That the leaders formally added household domestics and agricultural workers who have the requisite qualifications, to the category of workers allowed free movement in the community, is welcome. However, the free movement of all CARICOM citizens should be automatic. The regional subgroup, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, has not sunk under the weight of that right to the citizens within the seven members of the economic union.

If the wider CARICOM is not ready to go all the way, it could adopt the Persaud Report recommendation of allowing free movement to people with passes in a minimum two subjects in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams.

Accelerating regulatory convergence to make it easier for people and firms to do business across the community is important. As well, establishing CARICOM as a single information and communication technology space is crucial. The latter could unleash much of the potential of the free movement of labour and skills, without people having to leave their home territories to work in others.

If leaders are serious, CARICOM can achieve, in short order, the breakthrough that has eluded it for 50 years.