Public
FTAA.ngds/com/16
June 12, 2002
Original: English
FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Sixteenth Meeting
Panama, June 10 -12, 2002
PRESS COMMUNIQUE
1. The Sixteenth Meeting of the Negotiating Group on Dispute
Settlement (NGDS) was held in Panama from June 10-12, 2002. Representatives from
twenty-two (22) countries of the Hemisphere were in attendance: Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
2. The adopted agenda for the meeting is attached as
annex.
3. All the items on the agenda were considered during the meeting except other
business. The NGDS advanced in its work of eliminating brackets and
consolidating text in the draft chapter on dispute settlement to the maximum
extent possible.
4. Information has been provided by eighteen (18) countries on their respective
national laws on arbitration and/or institutions, which is posted on the FTAA
web page on private commercial arbitration at
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/busfac/canale.asp Also posted is the status of
signatories and ratifying states to the international conventions governing
private commercial arbitration.
5. The Group took note of recent contributions received from civil society in
response to the third open invitation to civil society. The Group agreed to
refer to these contributions at its next (seventeenth) meeting.
6. The next meeting of the NGDS has been scheduled for July 15-17, 2002.
FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Sixteenth Meeting
Panama, June 10 -12, 2002
AGENDA
1. Approval of the agenda
2. Finalization of submission to the Technical Committee on Institutional
Issues
3. Finalization of second draft consolidated text – elimination of brackets
to the maximum extent possible
4. Preparation of draft Report of the NGDS to the Trade Negotiations
Committee
5. Relationship with other FTAA entities
6. Discussion on how to design mechanisms to facilitate and promote the use
of arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution methods
7. Other |