TCI to become full members of CARICOM

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, February 6, 2023 – Full CARICOM membership for the Turks and Caicos is on the table according to a debriefing of the official TCI visit to the Bahamas in December, issued by the Government.  The delegation which had included top bosses Premier Washington Misick and Governor Nigel Dakin went with the aim to “find further areas of collective security cooperation where all parties could benefit from a deeper relationship.”

Major developments coming out of the meeting included the TCI advising its sister country of its intention to seek full membership of the Caribbean Community; this was done with the agreement of the United Kingdom which provided a letter of entrustment allowing for this negotiation.

The TCI, courtesy of its position as an overseas territory and not an independent nation, is listed as an Associate Member State of CARICOM along with, Anguilla; Bermuda; The British Virgin Islands; and Cayman.

This gives them the power to:

• Attend meetings as Observers including, Meetings of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community;
• Be listed as members of all Institutions except the Council of Foreign and Community Relations;
• Have the right to participate in the deliberations of those bodies in which it has membership in order to promote its interests in specific programmes and measures, including the right to propose programmes and measures or the modification of programmes and measures, as well as to share in the benefits of all relevant CARICOM regional programmes and measures, whether proposed by the country or not;

Becoming an official member of CARICOM would allow the TCI to attend, participate and vote in all Meetings of the Organs and Institutions of the Caribbean Community;  have the right to participate in the deliberations of all bodies in order to promote its interests in all programmes and measures, and be able to propose programmes and measures.

This month, the 44^th Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM heads of government is being held in Nassau, The Bahamas.  Not clear, if this meeting will be the launch pad for TCI’s transfer to full member status.