This document was prepared at the request of the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), and was presented on 17 March 2003 during the 12th Meeting of the Committee on Trade Development and External Economic Relations. In order to maintain the quality of the document, the observations expressed by member countries were incorporated into the original version. In addition, the data and information contained in that version were updated and expanded. Collaborating on its preparation were officials from the International Trade and Integration Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Headquarters in Santiago (Johannes Heirman, Carla Macario, Jaime Contador, Verónica Silva, Mikio Kuwayama and José Durán) and Esteban Pérez of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, in Port of Spain. Viviane Ventura Dias, ECLAC's Director of International Trade and Integration provided continuous encouragement and support for the project. Valuable assistance was also obtained in the preparation of the document from the Subregional Headquarters of ECLAC in Mexico, and from the ACS Secretariat, which was involved in all stages of the research. ECLAC Headquarters in Santiago together with the Subregional Headquarters in Port of Spain prepared the final version of the document. The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American Economic System (SELA) edited the final version of this document in Spanish and English. Chapter I provides a brief presentation on the objectives of the ACS and its origin. It highlights the great diversity of the countries that make up the Association, and makes reference to the problems faced by small economies. It ends with a description of the main features of the international insertion of member countries. Chapter II examines recent developments in external trade, with special attention being paid to trade within the ACS, and the possibility of strengthening such trade. A large part of the chapter is devoted to foreign investment in the region, including the emerging development of intraregional investment. The following chapter examines in detail these countries' trade policies, and highlights the effect of commitments undertaken in subregional agreements within the Association on such policies. The final chapter gives an account of the trade agreements entered into by the different members of the Association, and examines their position in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its trade negotiation agreements with developed countries. The chapter closes with an analysis of the main areas of action outlined in the ACS, namely, attempts to set up a preferential trade zone, transport, trade facilitation and tourism, as well as joint action in light of natural disasters. Due to the range of topics dealt with and the large number of Member States involved, the document must focus on the main features of the international insertion of these countries and this analysis, therefore, may not always achieve the level of detail desired. Finally, it must be stated that the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECLAC.