1. The twenty-fourth meeting of the Negotiating Group on Dispute Settlement (NGDS) was held in Puebla, Mexico from September 22 to 23, 2003. Ms. Meg Kinnear chaired the meeting. In attendance were representatives of the following eighteen (18) countries of the hemisphere: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

2. The agenda adopted for the meeting is attached as an annex. All the items on the agenda were considered.

3. The Group focused its attention on the draft chapter on dispute settlement with a view to achieving consensus on the greatest possible number of issues still pending. The Group finalized its report to the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) on the Group’s activities since the Quito Ministerial meeting, attaching the latest version of the draft dispute settlement chapter.

4. The Group noted that two new contributions from civil society had been received by the NGDS since its last meeting, in response to the open invitation to civil society.

5. Information provided by twenty (20) countries on their respective national laws, and/or institutions providing services, in relation to arbitration and/or other alternative dispute resolution, as well as a revised note providing the current status of signatories and ratifying states of relevant international conventions are posted on the FTAA web page on private commercial arbitration at http://www.ftaa-alca.org/busfac/canal_e.asp.