At Chaguaramas, on 4 July 1973, in Trinidad and Tobago, the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community was signed by Errol W. Barrow, for Barbados; L.F.S. Burnham, for Guyana; Michael Manley, for Jamaica; and Eric Williams, for Trinidad and Tobago. The instrument has 33 articles plus an Annex on the Caribbean Common Market. Signature is open, on that day, to any State listed in Article 2(1)(a).

The Treaty of Chaguaramas is not the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which ceased on 1 May 1974, nor the Revised Treaty of 2001 which made the CSME, nor the Georgetown Accord of April 1973. The four prime ministers signed in person.

Article 1: the parties establish among themselves a Caribbean Community. Article 2: membership is open to Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, and to other States of the Caribbean Region under Article 29. Article 3: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are More Developed Countries; the remainder listed, other than the Bahamas, are Less Developed Countries until the Conference otherwise determines. Article 4: economic integration through the Common Market, coordination of foreign policies, and functional cooperation.

Article 6: the principal organs are the Conference of Heads of Government and the Common Market Council. Article 9: each member of the Conference has one vote; decisions by the affirmative vote of all its members; abstentions do not impair validity if not less than three-quarters, including at least two More Developed Countries, vote in favour. Article 15: the Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Secretariat is recognised as the Community Secretariat; its headquarters shall be in Georgetown, Guyana.

Article 22: open for signature, on the day of the act, by the States in Article 2. Article 23: ratification according to constitutional procedures; instruments deposited with the Secretariat. Article 24: the Treaty shall enter into force on 1 August 1973 if Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have deposited; if not, on the date of the fourth such instrument. Barbados deposited on 30 July, Guyana on 28 July, Jamaica on 31 July, Trinidad and Tobago on 30 July. Entry into force was 1 August 1973. Article 25: registration with the United Nations.

The Annex governs the Common Market. The 1973 Treaty is not the revised 2001 text, nor the later list of the 15 members.

Image: boardwalk at Chaguaramas, Trinidad, 29 June 2025; 999real, CC0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9. The 1973 treaty was signed at Chaguaramas.

Source consulted: Treaty of Chaguaramas. Treaty text: CARICOM: Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community, Chaguaramas, 4 July 1973.