Association of Caribbean States

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) is a group of nations in the Caribbean Basin. It was created to help countries in this area work together and support each other. The main goals of the ACS are to increase trade, improve travel, grow sustainable tourism, respond to natural disasters, and protect the Caribbean Sea.

There are twenty-five member states and seven associate members in the ACS. The agreement to create the ACS was signed on July 24, 1994, in Cartagena, Colombia. Important groups watched the creation of this organization. The agreement is kept by the government of Colombia in English, French, and Spanish.

ACS objectives and goals

The Association of Caribbean States wants to help countries in the Caribbean work together better. Its main goals are to bring these nations closer by focusing on what they share and removing old barriers from their colonial past.

The group uses its location and teamwork to gain advantages in world trade and politics, especially compared to big trade groups like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union. It has four main areas of focus: Trade, Transport, Sustainable Tourism, and Natural Disasters. Each area has a Special Committee that meets at least twice a year to talk about important regional issues and create plans.

The Special Committee on Trade works to build bigger economic actions in the Caribbean by uniting member states. The Special Committee on Transport promotes air travel agreements and safety for travelers. The Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism encourages tourism that is good for the environment and helps the Caribbean economy. The Special Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction helps countries prepare for and respond to natural disasters.

The ACS also has a Council of National Representatives that oversees resources and projects for the group.

Caribbean Sea agenda

The ACS wants the Caribbean Sea to be recognized as a special area for sustainable development. It is pushing the United Nations to consider the Caribbean Sea as a valuable asset worth protecting. The group is working with member states to create a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to stop the movement of nuclear materials through the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Canal.

VERB programme

The VERB programme by the ACS aims to empower people in the Caribbean in all areas like farming, education, and fishing. It focuses on improving resources and infrastructure while valuing the environment and community welfare and using natural renewable resources.

Performance evaluation

People have different ideas about how well the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) is doing. Some believe it is successful because it has started many projects and includes many countries. It also works with big groups like the European Union.

Others think the ACS has not done as well. By the late 1990s, it had not built up enough work to show clear results, unlike another group called CARICOM. Some worry the ACS might not become important worldwide. They also point to other groups, like the Central American Common Market (CACM), that did not stay strong. The future of the ACS, especially with big trade rules like NAFTA and its place in the Western Hemisphere, is still not certain. Leaders want to help their economies grow, but it will be hard for Caribbean countries to compete well.

Summits

The summits are the most important meetings of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Leaders from all member countries, and also from observer countries and organizations, come to these summits. At the summits, leaders talk about the goals and plans of the ACS and work together to solve problems in the Caribbean region. A key part of each summit is signing a Declaration. In the Declaration, leaders promise to do the things planned in it.

The ACS has held nine summits so far:

• I ACS Summit, at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, August 17–18, 1995.
• II ACS Summit, at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 16–17, 1999.
• III ACS Summit, at Isla Margarita, Venezuela, December 12, 2001.
• IV ACS Summit, at Panama City, Panama, July 29, 2005.
• V ACS Summit, at Pétion-Ville, Haiti, April 23–26, 2013.
• VI ACS Summit, at Mérida, Mexico, April 28–30, 2014.
• VII ACS Summit, at Havana, Cuba, June 4, 2016.
• VIII ACS Summit, at Managua, Nicaragua, March 29, 2019.
• IX ACS Summit, at Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, May 8–12, 2023.

Membership

The Association of Caribbean States includes many countries and areas around the Caribbean Sea. These members work together to help each other with trade, travel, tourism, handling natural disasters, and protecting the ocean.

Member states

Associate member states

Observer states

Observer organisations

• The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - People's Trade Treaty
• Central American Bank for Economic Integration
• Arab League
• European Union
• Group of 77
• International Organization for Migration
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Pacific Islands Forum
• United Nations

Social Actors

• Caribbean Medical Association
• Regional Coordination for Economic and Social Research
• Caribbean Shipping Association
• Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce
• CCA
• ACURIL
• Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes
• The Antilles-French Guiana Regional Centre of the National Institute of Agronomical Research
• Latin American Faculty of Social Science

Non-participants

The United States and U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands do not participate.

Relationship with other supranational organisations

Observer organisations

The Association of Caribbean States works with many other groups. These include the Caribbean Community, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the Central American Integration System, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the European Union, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. These partnerships help the ACS share ideas and support common goals in the Caribbean and Latin America.