Prime Minister Bruce Golding has received his CARICOM diplomatic passport. The document was handed over to Golding by Jennifer McDonald, chief executive officer of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, last Thursday.

Minister of National Security Colonel Trevor MacMillan; Minister of State, Senator Arthur Williams; Permanent Secretary and Chief Immigration Officer, Major Richard Reese; as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Ken Baugh were on hand to witness the handover.

Regionalism

Golding presented his old Jamaican passport, which was then cancelled.

McDonald said all passports applied for on and after January 2, 2009, will be CARICOM passports.

She noted, however, that Jamaicans with valid passports need not change them to the CARICOM passport until they have expired.

The CARICOM passport may be used for intra-regional and extra-regional travel.

Regional heads of government agreed on the introduction of the document as a defining symbol of regionalism. It has been adopted as part of measures to facilitate smoother processing of CARI-COM nationals transiting the region, and is a major thrust of the CARICOM Single Market and the Economy.

It is intended to foster a greater sense of community within the region, and is a tangible demon-stration of one's membership in the Caribbean family.

CARICOM logo

The CARICOM passport bears the CARICOM logo and the words 'Caribbean Community' on the cover. It also bears Jamaica's coat of arms, and the word Jamaica as the issuing state written underneath.

The CARICOM logo will be imprinted on the document's pages.

The colours of the new CARICOM passport are: dark blue - ordinary issue; green for officials on government business; burgundy for diplomats.

The application process and application forms for the new CARICOM passport remain the same as when applying for the previous passport. The cost will be the same as for existing passports - $2,500 (adults) and $1,500 (minors).

Information

Belize is the only CARICOM country left to introduce the CARICOM passport. The travel document was first introduced in Suriname in January 2005.

The following table shows CARICOM countries and date of issue.