Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), created in 1981, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance

Good governance

Good governance is an indeterminate term used in development literature to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. Governance describes "the process of decision-making and the process by which...

between countries and dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. It also performs the role of spreading responsibility and liability in the event of natural disaster, such as a hurricane.

The main organ of the OECS, the Secretariat, is based in the capital city

Capital City

Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....

of Castries

Castries

Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....

, Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...

History

The OECS was created on 18 June 1981, with the Treaty of Basseterre, which was named after the city of the same name

Basseterre

Basseterre , estimated population 15,500 in 2000, is the capital of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands...

, the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis. The OECS is the successor of the Leewards Islands' political organisation known as the West Indies Associated States

West Indies Associated States

The West Indies Associated States was the collective name for a number of islands in the Eastern Caribbean whose status changed from being British colonies to states in free association with the United Kingdom in 1967...

(WISA).

One prominent aspect of the modern day OECS economic bloc has been the accelerated pace of trans-national integration among its member states.

All of the members-states of the OECS are either Full or Associate members of the Caribbean Community

Caribbean Community

The Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...

and were among the second batch of countries that joined the CARICOM Single Market and Economy

CARICOM Single Market and Economy

The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, also known as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy , is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community which took place in July 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada...

(CSME).

Membership

The OECS currently has nine members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean. Together, they form a near-continuous archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

across the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

and Windward Islands

Windward Islands

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...

.

The two most geographically isolated members, Anguilla

Anguilla

Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...

and the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

, have only associate membership of the organisation. As a result, diplomatic missions of the OECS do not represent these two states. For the purposes of further discussing the membership, they are treated as equals of the full members.

Six of the members were formerly colonies

Colony

In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The other three, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

remain overseas territories of the UK

British overseas territories

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...

. Eight of the nine members consider Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

to be sovereign (Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

is a republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

). There is no requirement for the members to have been British colonies, however the close historical, cultural and economic relationship fostered by them having all been British colonies is as much a factor in the membership of the OECS as their geographical proximity. As well, the Queen's likeness appears on the East Caribbean dollar

East Caribbean dollar

The East Caribbean dollar is the currency of eight of the nine members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States...

's coins and banknotes.

All seven full members are also the founding members of the OECS, having been a part of the organisation since its founding on 18 June 1981. The British Virgin Islands was the first associate member, joining on 22 November 1984 and Anguilla is the latest associate member, having joined in 1995.

Membership is listed alphabetically

Membership status	Description
Membership






Associate membership
Associate membership

Although all of the current full and associate members are all past or present British dependencies, other islands in the region have expressed interest in becoming associate members of the OECS. The first was the United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

, which applied for associate membership in February 1990 and requested that US Federal Government allow the territory to participate as such. At that time, it was felt by the US government that it was not an appropriate time to make such a request. However, the US Virgin Islands remained interested in the OECS and, as of 2002, stated that it would revisit the issue with the US government at a later date. In 2001, Saba, an island of the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

, decided to seek membership in the OECS. Saba's Island Council had passed a motion on May 30, 2001 calling for Saba's membership in the organisation and subsequently on June 7, 2001, the Executive Council of Saba decided in favour of membership. Saba's senator in the Netherlands Antilles parliament was then asked to present a motion requesting the Antillean parliament to support Saba's quest for membership. In addition to the support from the Antillean parliament, Saba also required a dispensation from the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...

to become an associate member of the OECS. Saba's bid for membership was reportedly supported by St. Kitts and Nevis and discussed at the 34th meeting of OECS leaders in Dominica in July. Also in 2001, Sint Maarten, another part of the Netherlands Antilles, explored the possibility of joining the OECS. After learning of Saba's intentions to join, St. Maarten suggested exploring ways in which Saba and St. Maarten could support each other in their pursuit of membership.

None of the prospective members have become associate members as yet, but Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten do participate in the meetings of the Council of Tourism Ministers (as the Forum of Tourism Ministers of the Eastern Caribbean, along with representatives of Saint-Martin

Saint Martin (France)

Saint Martin , officially the Collectivity of Saint Martin is an overseas collectivity of France located in the Caribbean. It came into being on 15 July 2007, encompassing the northern parts of Saint Martin island and neighbouring islets, the largest of which is Île Tintamarre...

, Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barthélemy , officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint Barthélemy , is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao...

, Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

and Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

Country or territory	Area (km²)	Population (2008 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Anguilla (UK United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... )	91	15,000	164.8	The Valley The Valley, Anguilla -Population:-References:...
Antigua and Barbuda	442	88,000	199.1	St. John's St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda St John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, a country located in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. St John's is located at...
British Virgin Islands (UK)	151	23,000	152.3	Road Town Road Town -See also:* Government House, the official residence of the Governor of the British Virgin Islands located in Road Town-External links:*****...
Dominica	751	67,000	89.2	Roseau Roseau -Architecture:The central district of Roseau is tightly packed with small and large houses and even larger modern concrete structures. There is little green or open space situated within the city, and this is even more so today, as many of the courtyards which was once commonplace within the city...
Grenada	344	104,000	302.3	St. George's St. George's, Grenada St. George's, population 89,018 , with an agglomeration of 4,500 people , is the capital of Grenada, . The city is surrounded by a hillside of an old volcano crater and is on a horseshoe-shaped harbor....
Montserrat (UK)	102	6,000	58.8	Plymouth Plymouth, Montserrat Plymouth is the de jure capital of the island of Montserrat, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located in the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. The town was overwhelmed by volcanic eruptions starting in the 1990s and was abandoned... ; Brades
Saint Kitts and Nevis	261	52,000	199.2	Basseterre Basseterre Basseterre , estimated population 15,500 in 2000, is the capital of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands...
Saint Lucia	539	172,000	319.1	Castries Castries Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389	109,000	280.2	Kingstown Kingstown Kingstown is the chief port of Saint Vincent, and the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 25,418 Kingstown is a centre for the island's agricultural industry and a port of entry for tourists...
Total	3,070	636,000	207.1

Political union with Trinidad and Tobago

On 13 August 2008 the leaders of Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines announced their intention to pursue a sub-regional political union within CARICOM.
As part of the preliminary discussions the Heads of Government for the involved states announced that 2011 would see their states entering into an economic union. Following that date, 2013 is supposed to be the date of full political union for the members involved.

Venezuela seeking membership

In 2008 the heads of the OECS also received a request from Venezuela to join the grouping.

The OECS Director General Len Ishmael

Len Ishmael

Len Ishmael is a St. Lucian development planner and geographer who as of April 2009 is the Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States....

confirmed Venezuela's application was discussed at the 48th Meeting of the OECS Authority held in Montserrat. But she said OECS decision makers within the sub-region were yet to determine whether membership should be granted for Venezuela.

Secretariat

The functions of the Organisation are set out in the Treaty of Basseterre and are coordinated by the Secretariat under the direction and management of the Director General.

The OECS functions in a rapidly changing international economic environment, characterised by globalisation and trade liberalisation which are posing serious challenges to the economic and social stability of their small island members.

It is the purpose of the Organisation to assist its Members to respond to these multi-faceted challenges by identifying scope for joint or coordinated action towards the economic and social advancement of their countries.

The restructuring of the Secretariat was informed by considerations of cost effectiveness in the context of the need to respond to the increasing challenges placed on it, taking into account the limited fiscal capacities of its members. The Secretariat consists of four main Divisions responsible for: External Relations, Functional Cooperation, Corporate Services and Economic Affairs. These four Divisions oversee the work of a number of specialised institutions, work units or projects located in six countries: Antigua/Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, St Lucia, Belgium, Canada, and the United States of America.

In carrying out its mission, the OECS works along with a number of sub-regional and regional agencies and institutions. These include the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB); the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat; the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Director General

The authority within the OECS Secretariat is led by the Director General. The current Director General of the OECS is Dr. george goodwin

George Goodwin

George William Goodwin was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire during the 1921 season....

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC)

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is a superior Court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States , including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British...

, which was created during the era of WISA, today handles the judicial matters in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. When a trial surpasses the stage of High Court in an OECS member state, it can then be passed on to the ECSC at the level of Supreme court. Cases appealed from the stage of ECSC Supreme Court will then be referred to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...

. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

Caribbean Court of Justice

The Caribbean Court of Justice is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community . Established in 2001, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago....

was established in 2003, but constitutional changes need to be put in place before the CCJ becomes the final Court of Appeal.

Passport

A common OECS Passport was originally planned for January 1, 2003 but its introduction was delayed. At the 38th OECS Authority Meeting in January 2004, the Secretariat was mandated to have the two companies expressing an interest in producing the common passport (De La Rue Identity Systems

De La Rue

De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...

and the Canadian Banknote Company) make presentations at the next (39th) Authority Meeting. At the 39th Meeting the critical issue of the relationship between the OECS passport and the CARICOM passport was discussed and at the 40th OECS Authority Meeting in November 2004, the OECS Heads of Government agreed to give CARICOM a further 6 months (until May 2005) to introduce a CARICOM Passport. Failure to introduce the CARICOM Passport by that time would have resulted in the OECS moving ahead with its plans to introduce the OECS Passport. As the CARICOM Passport was first introduced in January 2005 (by Suriname) then the idea of the OECS Passport was abandoned. Had the passport been introduced however it would not have been issued to Economic Citizen

Economic citizenship

Economic Citizenshipcan be used to represent both the economic contributions requisite to become a citizen as well as the role in which ones economic standing can influence his or her rights as a citizen...

s within the OECS states.

It would also be unknown if the islands under British sovereignty would join the scheme (All British passports have the same European design)

Economic union

The decision to establish an economic union

Economic and monetary union

An economic and monetary union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of an economic union with a monetary union. It is to be distinguished from a mere monetary union , which does not involve a common market. This is the fifth stage of economic integration...

was taken by OECS Heads of Government at the 34th meeting of the Authority held in Dominica in July 2001. At the 35th meeting of the Authority in Anguilla in January 2002, the main elements of an economic union implementation project were endorsed. The project was expected to be implemented over a two-year period with seven of the nine OECS member states (i.e. Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...

, Dominica

Dominica

, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, Montserrat

Montserrat

, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) participating in the economic union initiative. The remaining two member states, Anguilla

Anguilla

and the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

, would not have participated immediately, but would have requested time to consider the issue further. In 2003, work had been initiated on the central issue of the creation of new Treaty arrangements to replace the Treaty of Basseterre which established the OECS. Among the elements of the project was the creation of a technical committee for a draft OECS Economic Union Treaty. This technical committee was inaugurated on May 4, 2004 and began designing the draft Treaty.

The new OECS Economic Union Treaty was finally presented at the 43rd OECS Meeting in St. Kitts on June 21, 2006. The current draft Treaty was commended at the meeting, but the Authority directed the formulation of some additional provisions to allow a role for national parliamentary representatives (both government and opposition) of the Member States in the form of a regional Assembly of Parliamentarians. This body, it was felt, was necessary to act as a legislative filter to the Authority in its law making capacity. The Heads further directed that the Treaty be reviewed by a meeting of members of the Task Force, Attorneys General, the draftsperson for the Treaty and representatives of the OECS Secretariat. The presentation of the Treaty at the Meeting was followed by the signing of a Declaration of Intent to implement the Treaty by the Heads of Government or their representatives (except that of the British Virgin Islands). It was agreed in the Declaration, that implementation of the Treaty would occur only after a year of public consultation, through a mass national and regional education programme with strong political leadership and direction. According to the Declaration, the Treaty was to be signed, and the Economic Union was to be established by July 1, 2007. This intended deadline was missed however and after the signing of the Treaty on June 18, 2010, the newest target date of January 21, 2011 was met when five of the six independent signatory Member States ratified the Treaty. These were Antigua and Barbuda (December 30, 2010), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (January 12, 2011), St. Kitts and Nevis (January 20, 2011), Grenada (January 20 2011) and Dominica (January 21 2011). In order for the Treaty to have entered into force at least four of the independent Member States must have ratified it by January 21, 2011. Montserrat had received entrustments from the United Kingdom to sign the Treaty but is unlikely to be in a position ratify the Treaty before a new constitution comes into force in the territory.

The provisions of the Economic Union Treaty prior to its ratification were expected to include:

The free circulation of goods and trade in services within the OECS
Free movement of labour by December 2007
The free movement of capital (via support of the money and capital market programme of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank)
A regional Assembly of Parliamentarians
A common external tariff.

Some of these provisions would already have been covered to some extent by the CSME, but some, such as the Assembly of Parliamentarians, would be unique to the OECS. Although some of the provisions would seem to duplicate efforts by the CSME, the Declaration of Intent and statements by some OECS leaders, acknowledge the CSME and give assurance that the OECS Economic Union would not run counter to CARICOM integration but that it would become seamlessly integrated into the CSME. To this end, the OECS Heads of Government agreed that steps should be taken to ensure that the OECS Economic Union Treaty would be recognised under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, just as the original Treaty of Chaguaramas

Treaty of Chaguaramas

The Treaty of Chaguaramas established the Caribbean Community and Common Market, later known as CARICOM. It was signed on July 4, 1973 in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. It was signed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago on 4 July 1973, in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. It came...

had recognised the Treaty of Basseterre.
The Economic Union Treaty's provisions are now expected to establish a Single Financial and Economic Space within which goods, people and capital move freely; harmonize monetary and fiscal policies Member States are expected continue to adopt a common approach to trade, health, education and environment, as well as to the development of such critical sectors as agriculture, tourism and energy. The Economic Union Treaty (or Revised Treaty as it is sometimes known) will also create two new organs for governing the OCES; The Regional Assembly (consisting of members of parliaments/
legislatures) and The Commission (a strengthened Secretariat). The free movement of OECS nationals within the subregion is expected to commence in August 2011 after a commitment towards that goal by the Heads of Government at their meeting in May 2011.

Central Bank

The majority of the OECS members-states are participants of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is the monetary authority of a group of six independent Caribbean nations namely:* Antigua and Barbuda,* Grenada,* Saint Kitts and Nevis,* Commonwealth of Dominica,* Saint Lucia,* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...

(ECCB) monetary authority. The regional central bank oversees financial and banking integrity for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States economic bloc of states. Part of the bank's oversight lends to maintaining the financial integrity of the Eastern Caribbean dollar

East Caribbean dollar

The East Caribbean dollar is the currency of eight of the nine members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States...

(XCD

East Caribbean dollar

The East Caribbean dollar is the currency of eight of the nine members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States...

). Of all OECS member-states, only the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

do not use the Eastern Caribbean dollar as their de facto native currency.

All members belong to the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

Security

The OECS sub-region has a military support unit known as the Regional Security System

Regional Security System

The Regional Security System is an international agreement for the defence and security of the eastern Caribbean region.The Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 1970s and...

(RSS). It is made up of the independent countries of the OECS along with Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

. The unit is based in the island of Barbados and receives funding and training from various countries including the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

and the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

Foreign missions

Country	Location	Mission
	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...	Shirley Skerritt-Andrew, Ambassador Ambassador An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization.... to Belgium and the European Union European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Puerto Rico	San Juan San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...	Consul Consul Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic... ar-office at Hato Rey Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Hato Rey is a former ward located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three wards of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico:Hato Rey CentralHato Rey Norte*Hato Rey Sur...
	Geneva Geneva Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...	Ricardo James, Chargé d'affaires Chargé d'affaires In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were... to the World Trade Organization World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948... (WTO)

Flag and logo

The flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

and logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

of the OECS consists of a complex pattern of concentric design elements on a pale green field, focused on a circle of nine inwardly pointed orange triangles and nine outwardly pointed white triangles. It was adopted June 21, 2006, and first raised on that day at Basseterre

Basseterre

, St. Kitts and Nevis.:

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Membership

Political union with Trinidad and Tobago

Venezuela seeking membership

Secretariat

Director General

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Passport

Economic union

Central Bank

Security

Foreign missions

Flag and logo

See also

External links