Bermuda will need to make a formal application to join the Caribbean Community (Caricom) before it will find out how much it will cost the Island, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Premier Jennifer Smith has told MPs the Island will not become an associate member of the regional organisation until MPs debate the issue and Bermuda finds out how much it will cost.

A Caricom spokesman told The Royal Gazette yesterday that Bermuda will not find out the cost of membership until it submits a formal application - which it has not yet been done - then the matter will be negotiated.

The Island can still pull back from joining after submitting an application if it is not happy with the cost or any of the conditions, said Caricom spokesman Leonard Robertson.

And he said there was no formula for determining how much each member pays, and that this is negotiated between Caricom and the applicants.

Gross domestic product and population are among the elements looked at when determining how much a country should pay.

"Every country negotiates their own terms and conditions. There is no set formula. Both parties come with something and the final version is worked out between the applicant and the Community," he told The Royal Gazette.

"When Bermuda sends in an application formally, then the negotiations begin. There will be an exchange of correspondence between the general secretary or the chair of Caricom and the Premier of Bermuda setting out the process, and from there it will go on.

"The negotiations don't only concentrate on funding, but also which elements of the treaty the applicant wishes to be part of."

When asked if Bermuda could decide not to join after submitting a formal application, he said: "That is Bermuda's choice."

Health Minister Nelson Bascome, who is in charge of a Cabinet committee looking at the pros and cons of joining Caricom, could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

United Bermuda Party House of Assembly leader and Whip Maxwell Burgess said last night he was not surprised that a formal application would have to be made before funding details could be negotiated.

He said the whole issue should be explored fully, under a joint select committee of MPs of both parties, before there is even talk of applying.

"We should be finding out the pros and cons as to whether we should join, and that should be done before we set out the mechanisms of joining," he said.

"It doesn't come as a total surprise to me that we would have to have a formal application before finding out how much it will cost, but I'm sure in the run up to the formal application some kind indication could be given."

The Progressive Labour Party has ruled out a joint select committee because the issue is to be debated in the House.