There are many impediments to growth within individual countries. Similar divisions impede the flow of goods, services, capital, people and ideas between countries. Anything that impedes economic growth and development is costly. Regional integration allows countries to overcome these costly divisions by integrating goods, services and factors’ markets, thus facilitating the flow of trade, capital, energy, people and ideas. This was the original intent of the formation of The Caribbean Community (Caricom) on July 4, 1973, some 50 years ago, making Caricom the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world.
The Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) was meant to deepen the arrangement between Caricom’s member states by creating a single enlarged economic space through the removal of restrictions impeding the free movement of goods, services, people, capital and technology. It confers the right on every Caricom national to establish a business in any participating member state. Article 46 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas gives Caricom nationals the right to work or engage in gainful employment in any participating member state without the need for a work permit.
This right is a limited privilege, available only to those who fall within the 12 categories that have been approved for free movement. It does not confer a right of permanent residency or citizenship. Indeed, it guarantees a person only six months of employment if they have a Caribbean community Skills Certificate issued by the country from which the person originates.
To stay for an indefinite period, a skills certificate must be issued by the host country within that six-month period. This involves a cumbersome procedure in which the person must first apply to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to be “evaluated” before proceeding to the Immigration Department to be “evaluated” again before being given leave to stay indefinitely. Why is this process not seamless?
The parent act, “The Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) (Amendment) Act” was introduced in 1996 to recognise the first of the now 12 categories, graduates of the University of the West Indies. It was not passed and proclaimed in T&T until 2001. The second amendment of the act was passed and proclaimed in 2003 widening the categories eligible for free movement beyond university graduates to include artistes, musicians, sports people and media workers.
The latest amendment, welcomed by the Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs in the press this week was The Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals)(Amendment) Act, 2022 was proclaimed this month. It adds agricultural workers, security guards, beauty service practitioners, barbers, non-graduate nurses and non-graduate teachers to the categories of workers eligible for free movement with Caricom. The new categories added to the list are neither inspiring nor add to the economic dynamism of the region.
We support the integration process but note that the region is simply recovering lost ground not moving forward as people moved freely across the region before independence. Caricom has taken 50 years to recognise 12 categories of workers who are eligible for free movement in the region. This can hardly be considered progress. But there are other pressing issues. Inter-regional movement of goods and people is bedevilled by inadequate transportation links which are as infrequent as they are costly. Serious economic challenges lie ahead for the region. Action is required to halt this long march towards seeming irrelevance.