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Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
*Asociación de Estados del Caribe* (Spanish)
*Association des États de la Caraïbe* (French)
Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Asociación de Estados del Caribe (Spanish); Association des États de la Caraïbe (French);
	Flag
	Map indicating ACS members.
Seat of Secretariat	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Type	Regional organization
Membership	25 members; 10 associate members; 28 observers;
Leaders
• Secretary General	Rodolfo Sabonge
• Ministerial Council Chair	Bridgetown, Barbados
Establishment	Cartagena, Colombia July 24, 1994
	Website; http://www.acs-aec.org/

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS; Spanish: Asociación de Estados del Caribe; French: Association des États de la Caraïbe) is an advisory association of nations centered on the Caribbean Basin. It was formed with the aim of promoting consultation, cooperation, and concerted action among all the countries of the Caribbean coastal area. The 5 main purposes of the ACS is to promote greater trade between the nations, enhance transportation, develop sustainable tourism, facilitate greater and more effective responses to local natural disasters, and to preserve and conserve the Caribbean Sea.

It has twenty-five member states and seven associate members.^[2] The convention establishing the ACS was signed on July 24, 1994, in Cartagena, Colombia and is deposited with the Government of the Republic of Colombia in English, French and Spanish languages.^[3]In the convention the founding observers were declared as the CARICOM Secretariat, the Latin American Economic System, the Central American Integration System, and the Permanent Secretariat of the General Agreement on Central American Economic Integration.^[4]

ACS objectives and goals

The Association of Caribbean States is intended to promote regionalism among the member states. The success and functionality of the ACS is greatly debated among scholars. The main goals of the association are "to confirm the new concept of the Caribbean Basin by (A) accentuating those interests the Caribbean nations hold in common and (B) working to eliminate barriers left over from its colonial past."^[5]

The organization seeks to use geographic proximity and regional cooperation (regionalism) for political and economic advantage^[5] with respect to the global economy and trade blocs such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), European Union, Arab League, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The ACS has four distinct areas of interest: Trade, Transport, Sustainable Tourism, and Natural Disasters. Each is pursued by a Special Committee which meets at least twice yearly in order to discuss current regional issues and draft treaties.^[6]

The Special Committee on Trade Development and External Economic Relations works in an effort to create larger economic actions in the Caribbean by uniting its member states through integration and cooperation. Through various annual forums the ACS attempts to create economic cooperation in an attempt to benefit and expand the region's economy.^[6]
The Special Committee on Transport works to promote an Air Transport Agreement amongst the countries which have ratified the agreement. Security of travelers and the policing of airborne crime like drug trafficking also falls under the auspices of the Special Committee on Transport.^[6]
The Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism aims to promote tourism which is environmentally friendly.^[6] The committee promotes the use of sustainable tourism which is healthy for the environment, and at the same time economically beneficial to the Caribbean as a region.
The Special Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction which aims to coordinate the prevention and response to natural disasters in the Caribbean.^[6] The main focus of this committee is to maintain organisation and attempt to maintain a high level of ability to cope with disasters.

Additionally there is a Council of National Representatives of the Special Fund that is in charge of overseeing the resource mobilization and project development of the Association.^[4]

Caribbean Sea agenda

One agenda adopted by the ACS has been an attempt to secure the designation of the Caribbean Sea as a special zone in the context of sustainable development, it is pushing for the UN to consider the Caribbean sea as an invaluable asset that is worth protecting and treasuring.^[7] The organisation has sought to form a coalition among member states to devise a United Nations General Assembly resolution to ban the transshipment of nuclear materials through the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Canal.

VERB programme

VERB (Value, Empowerment, Resources, Betterment) programme aimed by ACS for empowering Caribbean peoples in all sectors (agriculture, education, fishery, etc.) with better resources and betterment of infrastructures in Caribbean by prioritising ecological and community welfare values and using renewable natural resources.

Performance evaluation

The success of the ACS is debated by many scholars on both sides. Those who suggest the ACS is successful would point to the many initiatives the developmental coalition has undertaken, as well as its large membership and relations with other international organisations like the European Union. Those who suggest it is unsuccessful note how by the end of the 1990s, unlike CARICOM, the ACS had failed to establish a track record which was worthy enough to allow for the evaluation of the ACS as a developmental coalition.^[8] Furthermore, some scholars suggest that the ACS is unlikely to become a true player on the international level. Skeptics often point to other failed attempts at economic coalition building like the Central American Common Market (CACM) as an example of the instability of the region.^[8] The influence of NAFTA on the Caribbean outlines the future struggle of the ACS. The future of the ACS in relation to the western hemisphere is uncertain. "Despite governmental statements of commitment to liberalisation, it will be difficult for Caribbean countries to succeed in putting their economies on a firmer footing that would enable them to compete effectively."^[9]

Summits

The summits held by the ACS are the most important meetings, and are attended by the Heads of State or Government of all the member countries, observer countries, social actors, and observer organizations. These meetings are where they will reaffirm and recommit to the organizations goals, objectives, and plans of action. The summit is a time for careful examination of issues faced by the region and to bring collaborative action towards the issues. The so called highlight of the summit is the adoption and signing of the Declaration, where leaders reaffirm and instruct the successful implementation of the proposed policies and actions that are outlined in the Declaration.^[10]

The ACS has held nine summits:

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.^[11]
IX ACS Summit, at Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, May 8–12, 2023.

Membership

^[4]^[12]^[13]

Member states

Associate member states

Aruba
British Virgin Islands
Curaçao
France on behalf of:
- French Guiana
- Saint Barthélemy
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Saint Martin
Netherlands on behalf of:
Sint Maarten

Observer states

Source:^[14]

Observer organisations

Social Actors

Non-participants

Montserrat does not directly participate in the ACS, though it is affiliated with an observer state, being a British Overseas Territory. The United States and U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands also do not participate.

Relationship with other supranational organisations

Observer organisations

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)
Central American Integration System (SICA)
General Agreement on Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) Permanent Secretariat
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
European Union^[15]
Latin American Economic System (SELA)
MERCOSUR
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Organization of American States (OAS)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

References

^ "ACS Leaders Pledge to Tackle Climate Change, Promote Sovereignty, Safe Migration & Reparations". ACS. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
^ "ACS Membership increases". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved Jun 20, 2020.
^ "Convention Establishing the Association of Caribbean States". Association of Caribbean States. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "About The ACS" (PDF). About the Association of Caribbean States. Association of Caribbean States. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): 1-19
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Association of Caribbean States. 2007. Association of Caribbean States. 21 October-November 2007". Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved Jun 20, 2020.
^ The Caribbean Sea: A constant in the ACS agenda Archived August 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine September 30, 2006
^ ^a ^b Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003. pp. 169
^ Benn, Denis. "Global and Regional Trends: Impact on Caribbean Development." In, Caribbean Public Policy: Regional, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Issues for the 21st Century, edited by Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner and Dennis Gayle. London: Boulder Westview, 1997.
^ "Summits | ACS-AEC". www.acs-aec.org. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
^ "Líderes de la AEC se comprometen a enfrentar Cambio Climático, Promover Soverenidad, Migración sin Riesgos e Indemnización". ACS. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
^ "ACS Members and Associate Members". ACS. Archived from the original on 2015-02-19. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
^ "Key address by Raul Castro Ruz, President of the Council of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba to the Opening Session of the 7th Summit of the Association of Caribbean States. Havana, Cuba, June 4, 2016". Association of Caribbean States. 2016-06-04. Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
^ "Association of Caribbean States—ACS observers". Archived from the original on 2023-09-03. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
^ "Observers and Partners | ACS-AEC". www.acs-aec.org. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved Jun 20, 2020.