The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate and promote unity and solidarity among the Members. The Agreement became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, named in honour of the capital city of Saint Kitts and Nevis where it was signed.
The Treaty was subsequently replaced in 2010 with a Revised Treaty of Basseterre, creating an economic union, where barriers to trade are reduced or removed for a single market with a customs union where the seven protocol OECS countries agreed to trade with each other without any tariffs or other trade barriers.
