The regional integration of the Caribbean started with the creation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 which comprised ten territories. The Federation was established by the British Caribbean Federation Act of 1956. The process of integration gained momentum on the 15th of December of 1965 with the signature of the Dickenson Bay Agreement creating the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), intended to unite the economies in the region in order to support a  joint presence on the international scene.

The CARIFTA was founded by Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. They were joined on 1 July, 1968 by Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines; and on 1 August, 1968 by Montserrat and Jamaica. In 1971 Belize (then British Honduras) joined the Association. In 1972, Commonwealth Caribbean leaders at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference decided to transform the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community. The signing of the Treaty of Chaguaranas on the 4th July 1973 established the Caribbean Community. In 1989 the Grand Anse Declaration was signed, launching the basis for the creation of a Single Market and Economy (CSME) in two stages, first with the creation of the single market. In January 7, 2005, the Republic of Suriname became the first full member state to officially launch the new bloc "CARICOM Passport". The single market started to be implemented on January 1, 2006.