COTA was established in 1971 at a meeting of the Heads of Regional Tax Administration convened in Saint Lucia when its Constitution was ratified. The Constitution was subsequently approved in October 1972 by the Standing Committee of Ministers of Finance in Trinidad & Tobago. The year 2002 therefore marks the thirty-second anniversary of the establishment of COTA.
The COTA Newsletter Issue No. 1 commenced in 1985; the COTA Newsletter was introduced to replace the COTA Quarterly Journal.
Established in 1975, CARDI’s aim is to contribute to agricultural development by conducting research and by exposing farmers and other persons involved in agriculture to appropriate technologies.
In the broad objectives set out in the articles of agreement establishing CARDI, the Institute was charged with providing for the research and development needs of the agriculture of the region as identified in national plans and policies, as well as providing an appropriate research and development service to the agricultural sector of member countries.
Its objectives are:
The Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) transforms and modernizes public sectors of Member States to better formulate and implement public policy towards the achievement of sound Governance.
CARICAD’s core business is public sector transformation through:
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is the new single regional public health agency for the Caribbean. The Agency rationalises public health arrangements in the Region by combining the functions of five Caribbean Regional Health Institutes (RHIs) into a single agency.
They institutions are as follows:
CASSOS was formally launched in February 2009 at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana. CASSOS succeeds RASOS, with functions that been redefined and are broader in scope to include all the annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944), commonly called ICAO Annexes.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which set out the Association’s main objectives was developed and signed by the Directors of Civil Aviation of Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA)Â contributes to enhanced agricultural health and food safety in the Caribbean Community.
Its primary objectives include regional and national support in establishing, managing and operating national agricultural health and food safety systems in accordance with the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement.
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The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is a regional inter-governmental agency for disaster management that falls directly under the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CDEMA’s main function is to make an immediate and coordinated response to any disastrous event affecting any member-state of CARICOM, once the state requires such assistance.
CARICOM member states and associate members benefits directly, in means of assistance services, monetary donations, financial grants and essential food and medical supplies.
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At its tenth meeting in Grenada in 1989, the Heads of Government of CARICOM agreed that whilst CARICOM would remain a ‘Community of Sovereign States,’ a number of changes were essential for improving the structure and management of the Community, in order to allow it to respond to the challenges and opportunities in the globalised environment.
The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) which came into force in 2001, was amongst the changes agreed upon, in order to reflect the new community structures, and to move CARICOM from a Common Market to a Single Market and Economy.
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) critically determines how the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) functions. The Court attracts investment to the region by providing stability through the uniform interpretation and application of the law.
The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) is an institution that provides regional and internationally recognised secondary school leaving examinations relevant to the needs of the region; assist in Common Entrance and other types of examinations; produce teaching materials and train teachers to use the CXC syllabi; and advise regional governments on education.
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