CARICOM Single Market and Economy

The CARICOM Single Market and Economy is an integrated development strategy for the Caribbean Community, envisioned at the tenth meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in Grand Anse, Grenada, in July 1989. The Grand Anse Declaration that founded it set out three goals: deepening economic integration from a common market into a genuine single market and economy, expanding membership to strengthen the region's economic capacity, including the later admission of Suriname in 1995 and Haiti in 2002, and integrating the region progressively into the global trading system through stronger ties with non-traditional partners. It built on the earlier Caribbean Free Trade Association, which had operated from 1965 to 1973, and the Single Market itself began to be implemented on January 1, 2006, among twelve full member states, with Haiti ratifying in 2007 and working toward full integration.