There will be five categories of membership in the CPSO:
- Category I (Large Firms) – This membership category will be open to individual corporate entities meeting at least three of the following criteria:
- Substantially owned and effectively controlled by CARICOM nationals[1];
- Employment of more than one thousand workers;
- Gross Annual Revenue over most recent three years of at least USDXXX; and
- Operating in a minimum of three CARICOM countries.
- Category II (Medium Firms) – This membership category will be open to individual corporate entities meeting the following criteria:
- Substantially owned and effectively controlled by CARICOM nationals;
- Employment of more than one hundred but less than one thousand workers;
- Gross Annual Revenue over most recent three years of at least USDXXX.
- Category III (Small Firms and Micro Enterprises) – This membership category will be open to individual corporate entities meeting the following criteria:
- Substantially owned and effectively controlled by CARICOM nationals
- Existence for three years or more
- Properly registered in one or more Member State of the Community.
- Category IV (Institutional Membership) – This category of membership is open to regional and national business support organisations and associations, including chambers of commerce, manufacturers associations, regional sectoral organisations and credit union leagues. Members will have to satisfy the following criteria:
- Regional Institutions
- Membership from a number of CARICOM Countries;
- National Institutions:
- Minimum of fifty (50) members
- Minimum of two (2) years in existence
- Legal personality in Member State.
- Category V (Associate and Affiliate Membership) – Membership (open to entities which operate in the CARICOM space but are not substantively owned by CARICOM nationals) and Affiliate Membership (open to entities participating on an ‘issue-specific’ or ‘subject-specific’ basis, for example, establishment of a CARICOM Junior Stock Market, or convergence to the same audit requirements among the Community, etc.) that may not be continual.