[4] The origins of CARIFTA lay in a meeting on July 4, 1965, between the Prime Ministers of Barbados and British Guiana (Errol Barrow and Forbes Burnham respectively) to discuss the possibility of establishing a free trade area between the two territories, which at the time were moving towards independence from the United Kingdom.

[4][6] The original date envisioned for the Caribbean Free Trade Area to come into existence, according to the Dickenson Bay Agreement, was May 15, 1967.

[6][5] Dr. Williams had for years been advocating the establishment of a Caribbean Economic Community and was now fearful that Barbados, Antigua and Guyana were planning to form a free trade area between themselves to the exclusion of Trinidad and Tobago.

[6] The push to make the free trade area a region-initiative was successful and the issue was discussed at the fourth Conference of the Heads of Government of Commonwealth Caribbean Countries in Bridgetown, Barbados in October 1967.

There it was resolved to introduce the free trade area by May 1, 1968, with the delegations of Montserrat and British Honduras (Belize) entering reservations to the conclusions of the resolution due to the constitutional status of their governments at the time.

The original idea to permit all territories in the region to participate in the Association was achieved a few months later with the entry of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent in July and of Jamaica and Montserrat on August 1, 1968.

Whilst foodstuff and petroleum products accounted for the bulk of this trade, a range of new manufactured items (particularly from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago) began to be supplied for the first time.

[11] Additionally the LDCs, particularly Saint Lucia, Dominica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines benefitted from increase exports to the More Developed Countries (MDCs - Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago) of ground provisions (like sweet potatoes), copra and raw oils (such as coconut oil) under the Agricultural Marketing Protocol and the Oil and Fats Agreement (which was initially an Agreement among some regional states that pre-dated CARIFTA but was incorporated into CARIFTA as a Protocol and extended to all CARIFTA members in 1970) respectively.

[15] However, under the Scheme the various CARIFTA central banks or monetary authorities effected settlements with each other individually, with each member extended an interest-free maximum credit line of £100,000 and outstanding net balances being settled quarterly by actual currency exchange (in Pounds Sterling).

The settlement on a quarterly basis significantly reduced the previously erratic changes in foreign exchange reserves of the participating member states caused by having to settle at least once a day in both directions prior to the scheme (to pay for imports and receive funds from exports).

[24] These two Dutch Caribbean territories (at the time) were however also invited, prior to 1968, to become founding members of CARIFTA, but Surinam declined as it was uncertain as to the implications of joining and the Netherlands Antilles also declined out of caution against being the only non-Commonwealth member [25] Following CARIFTA's foundation however, Jamaica's Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer found on a tour of the Dutch Caribbean in August 1968, that the Minister-President of the Netherlands Antilles, Ciro Domenico Kroon and the Prime Minister of Suriname, Johan Adolf Pengel both expressed an interest in their respective territories joining CARIFTA in the future.

[27] By 1971 however, Errol Barrow, Prime Minister of Barbados, saw no real advantage in including Haiti and the Dominican Republic (and Cuba) in CARIFTA unless a quota system was applied to their products as he considered their economies to be duplicate to those of the existing CARFITA states.

[25] The Dominican Republic first signaled its intention to join a regional economic bloc at the a Summit of American leaders in Uruguay in April 1967 when it signed the Declaration of the Presidents of America.

[13] Unlike the European Council with regards to the EEC however, the regional Heads of Government Conference pre-dates CARIFTA (and then CARICOM), having first convened in 1963 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.

Having expanded its membership from just the independent Commonwealth Caribbean states in 1963 to including all of the non-independent territories in 1967, it was the Heads of Government Conference at its fourth sitting in October 1967 in Bridgetown, Barbados[13] that modified the Dickenson Bay Agreement so as to ensure the broadest possible membership, set 1 May 1968 as day CARIFTA was supposed to become operation and set forth a Resolution on Regional Integration which was incorporated as an integral part of the CARIFTA Agreement as Annex A.

[8] At the Eighth Heads of Government Conference in April 1973, the Georgetown Accord was adopted, which set out the details of how CARIFTA was to be replaced by CARICOM.