CARICOM VIEW
logical development; and (c) Cooperation in activities in a number of fields. Areas were identified in the schedule to the Treaty but it was made clear that these were not exhaustive as the Conference of Heads of Government could add to them at any time. In seeking a full appreciation of the work and mandate implications of the Treaty of Chaguaramas we must go, however, beyond the objectives and also consider: • The intent in the preambular paragraphs which are extremely broad, in particular the third of the four paragraphs. This speaks, inter alia, to: (i) The optimum utilisation of human and natural resources, (ii) Accelerated, coordinated and sustained development, (iii) Efficient operation of common services and functional cooperation in social, cultural, educational and technological fields; and (iv) Creation of a common front in relation to the external world. Some of these are highlighted in the objectives but the intent in the preamble is much more fundamental and long-term. It is also important to appreciate that the two Organs – the Conference and The Common Market Council – and the seven ministerial Institutions, all had the power to issue instructions to the Secretariat. The number of institutions, itself, was not exhaustive as there was provision for Conference to add. The initial seven were for Health, Education, Labour, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Agriculture and Mines. The institutions had the authority to establish subsidiary committees, agencies and other bodies they considered necessary for the efficient performance of their function. The organs and institutions, with the exception of the Common Market Council
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were expected to meet at least once per year. The Common Market Council was expected to meet quarterly. These meetings could be in any Member State. Certain unforeseen regional and moreso global developments in the five years immediately after the establishment of Community had significant implications for the nature and intensity of the work of the Community ad hence the Secretariat. Important, but not in priority order were: 1. The need to establish a new relationship with the United Kingdom as a new member of the European Economic Community (EEC), and hence with the EEC and with the Commonwealth. This not only took the Region into uncharted waters, but into waters in which it had to take a leadership role, establish alliances, create required structures and write the rules. Political leaders such as Shridath 'Sonny" Ramphal of Guyana and P.J. Patterson of Jamaica and national officials such as Brazanne Babb of Barbados, who was stationed in Brussels for a period, played leading roles. The Secretariat was called upon, however, not only to coordinate technical studies and other preparations but often had to accompany delegations across Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific to advise, coordinate and ensure that there were records. The Deputy Secretary General, Mr Joseph Tyndall, was soon assigned full-time and stationed in Brussels while the Chief of Economic Policy and Research, later the Director for the Trade and Integration Division (DTID), Mr Edwin Carrington, was almost continuously with the regional team on its varied missions. Secretary-General William Demas and later Alister McIntyre were ubiquitous. Fortunately, Demas hated flying but loved the telephone, so the Secretariat in Georgetown could have his physical presence. Many other areas of the Secretariat, including Trade Policy and Customs Administration, Agriculture, in particular staff dealing with commodities, Economic Research and Statistics, Legal Services, Conference Services, and Transportation were significantly involved. The Lome 1
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Convention yoking the ACP on the one hand and the EEC on the other was the result of the negotiations. It was a path-breaking agreement between developed and developing countries and went into implementation at the beginning of 1975. This could not have come too soon. The CARICOM Secretariat sacrificed its Director of Trade and Integration Division to become the Deputy Secretary-General of the new ACP Secretariat but cut back on overall engagement for the next two-and-a half years until the negotiating cycle for the second five-year convention commenced. 2. The international economic crisis, which began to unfold with the first oil shock at about the same time as the conclusion of the negotiation of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, threw the Region into crisis in its production and in its external trade and economic relations. Several Member States came under pressure. The Secretariat was called upon to lead or coordinate work, inter alia to: • Monitor developments in areas such as commodity - including petroleum - prices and availability and assess the impact on the Region and on individual Member States; • Develop strategies and mechanisms to minimise potential adverse impacts on the fledgling integration process and individual Member States. Areas of work completed or advanced by the time of the Special Heads of Government Conference in April 1976 included: (1) The creation of a CARICOM Multilateral Clearing and Payments Facility (CMCF) to minimise the foreign exchange needed to facilitate intra-regional trade; (2) The creation of a multilateral balance of payments support fund (3) The promulgation of a Regional Food Plan and the establishment of a Regional Food Corporation to spearhead implementation of the Regional Food Plan. (4) The re-organisation of regional