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FTAA.ngsv/com/04
July 22, 1999

Original: English

FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON SERVICES

FOURTH MEETING

Miami, July 12 - 15, 1999

PRESS RELEASE

The fourth meeting of the FTAA Negotiating Group on Services was held in Miami from July 12- 15, 1999. The meeting began with a discussion of the objectives for a future agreement on services. Also discussed were the six elements of consensus on services that the Working Group had agreed upon during the preparatory phase of the FTAA. These include sectoral coverage, most favored nation treatment, national treatment, market access, denial of benefits, and transparency. 

The fourth meeting also focused on the report of the Group to the Trade Negotiations Committee on all the elements of the Work Program agreed upon in Buenos Aires in June 1998. The Group will discuss this report at its next meeting in September. 

The Group approved the publication of the revised Compendium on Provisions on Trade in Services in Trade and Integration Agreements in the Western Hemisphere prepared by the OAS. This document will be placed on the official FTAA web site. 

The Group was informed of the outcome of the "Conference on World Trade in Services and the Americas." This conference was held on July 8 and 9, 1999, in Costa Rica, under the auspices of the OAS, the IDB/INTAL and the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica. 

The dates proposed by the Negotiating Group on Services for its next meeting are September 13-15, 1999.

The following countries were present at the meeting:
 
Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and Uruguay.

FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON SERVICES

Fourth Meeting

AGENDA

Miami, 12-15 July 1999

Monday, July 12

All day :

Bilateral Consultations

Tuesday, July 13

Morning:

I. Opening of the meeting 1) Approval of the Agenda
2) Organization of Work
3) Report on the outcome of the Conference on Global Services Trade and the Americas, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, July 8th and 9th
  II. Objectives for a Future Agreement on Services
 Afternoon:
 III. Discussion of revised Matrix I and Matrix II 

IV. Menu of Options
Discussion of the first three elements of consensus 1) Sectoral Coverage
2) Most-Favored-Nation Treatment
3) Market Access

Wednesday, July 14

Morning:

IV. Continuation of the discussion of the Menu of Options 

4) National Treatment
5) Denial of Benefits
6) Transparency
  V. Liberalization Mechanisms for a Future Agreement on Services
 Afternoon:

VI. Links between the Six Elements of Consensus and Other Possible Elements

VII. Smaller Economies
Discussion on the basis of revised Matrix III

Thursday, July 15

Morning:

VIII. Discussion of Preparation of the Report of the Group to Vice Ministers 
 Afternoon:
IX. Various Issues 1) Revised Compendium on Provisions on Trade in Services in Trade and Integration Agreements in the Western Hemisphere, prepared by the OAS.
2) Presentation of the revised detailed proposal on Technical Assistance from ECLAC for the Negotiating Group.
3) List of Bodies in the Western Hemisphere working on specific service sectors

X. Closing of the Meeting

1) Organization of work and date of the next meeting (s)
2) Other matters
 
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