INTRODUCTION
1. We, the Ministers responsible for
trade representing the 34 nations which participated in the Summit of
the Americas (SOA), 1
met in Denver for the first Trade Ministerial meeting mandated by our
Heads of State and Government. We agreed to begin immediately al work
program to prepare for the initiation of negotiations of the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA) in which barriers to trade and investment
will be progressively eliminated. Negotiations will be concluded no
later than 2005.
2. We examined approaches for
constructing the FTAA which will build one existing subregional and
bilateral arrangements in order to broaden and deepend hemispheric
economic integration and to bring the agreements together. We will
strive to maximize market openness through high levels of discipline as
we build upon existing agreements in the Hemisphere. We agreed to ensure
that the FTAA will: be fully consistent with the provisions of the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement); be
balanced and comprehensive in scope, covering among others, all areas
included in the SOA Plan of Action; not raise barriers to other
countries; and represent a single undertaking comprising mutual rights
and obligations.
3. In view of the wide differences in
levels of development and size of economies, we will actively look for
ways to provide opportunities to facilitate the integration of the
smaller economies and increase their level of development.
4. We recognized the importance to our
nations of achieving macroeconomic stability and the efforts being made
by countries in our Hemisphere to achieve such stability.
INITIAL WORK PROGRAM
5. Based on decisions made at the Summit
of the Americas, we decided to initiate preparation for active
negotiations. In order to meet our Heads' of State and Government
commitments for constructing the FTAA, we recognized the need for
immediate preparatory work in the Hemisphere and therefore are
establishing working groups in the following areas: Market Access;
Customs Procedures and Rules of Origin; Investment; Standards and
Technical Barriers to Trade; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;
Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing Duties; and the working group
on the Smaller Economies.
6. The overall program of each working
group should include the identification and examination of existing
trade-related measures in each area, with a view to identifying possible
approaches to negotiations. We are providing overall guidance, including
a beginning timetable and initial coordinators, for each working group
in the Annex. We will receive reports and determine at the March 1996
Trade Ministerial meeting the next steps to be taken in each area,
including an appropriate timetable for further work.
7. At the March 1996 Trade Ministerial,
we will establish working groups and their terms of reference in the
following areas: Government Procurement; Intellectual Property Rights;
Services; and Competition Policy.
8. All Working Groups will be open to the
participation of all nations. We direct our Vice Ministers to meet, as
needed, before the March 1996 Trade Ministerial to coordinate the work
and to review progress of the working groups, and ask that the host of
the March 1996 Trade Ministerial chair such meetings. We ask the
tripartite committee -- the OAS, the IDB and ECLAC
2 -- to provide analytical support, technical
assistance, and relevant studies within their respective areas of
competence, as may be requested by the working groups.
REPORTS ON WORK UNDERWAY
9. We received reports on the status of
work undertaken in the various trade and investment fora and noted the
entry into force of the MERCOSUR Customs Union on January 1, 1995; the
entry into force of the common external tariff among the Andean Group
countries on February 1, 1995; the entry into force of free trade
agreements between Mexico and Costa Rica on January 1, 1995, Mexico and
Bolivia on January 1, 1995, Chile and Ecuador on January 1, 1995, and
the Group of Three (Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela) on January 1, 1995;
the scheduled accession of Suriname to the Caribbean Community on July
4, 1995; and the discussions within other subregional groups on
strengthening and broadening economic integration in the Hemisphere.
10. The Special Committee on Trade (SCT)
of the OAS submitted an initial report on its activities. We commended
the SCT, which last convened in Montevideo on June 14-15, 1995, for
completing the first stage of a compendium and a comparative analysis of
integration agreements in the Hemisphere, and the preliminary study on
tariffs and rules of origin. We look forward to receiving the full
report of the SCT at the March 1996 Trade Ministerial. We stressed the
importance of the SCT's analyses in the preparatory phase of
constructing the FTAA and of work by the tripartite committee -- the
OAS, IDB, and ECLAC -- in providing information for our subsequent
decisions on future work for our governments.
OTHER MATTERS
11. We are committed to transparency in
the FTAA process. As economic integration in the Hemisphere proceeds, we
welcome the contribution of the private sector and appropriate processes
to address the protection of the environment and the further observance
and promotion of worker rights, through our respective governments.
FUTURE MINISTERIAL MEETINGS
12. We accepted the invitation of the
Government of Colombia to host the next Trade Ministerial to be held in
March 1996. On that occasion, we will establish the date and venue of
the third Trade Ministerial.
ANNEX I
ACTION PLAN FOR NEW WORKING GROUPS:
We instruct each working group below to
complete a report for presentation to the March 1996 Trade Ministerial,
including recommendations for subsequent action.
I. THE WORKING GROUP ON MARKET ACCESS
WILL:
II. THE WORKING GROUP ON CUSTOMS
PROCEDURES AND RULES OF ORIGIN WILL:
- 1. Compile in the most efficient
manner possible a comprehensive inventory of Hemisphere customs
procedures and determine the feasibility of publishing a Hemisphere
Guide to Customs Procedures; develop features that are fundamental to
an efficient and transparent system of rules of origin, including
nomenclature and certificates of origin;
2. Identify areas for technical cooperation in customs operation, such
as connections among computerized systems and the prevention of fraud;
3. Recommend a specific approach for
Hemisphere-wide simplification of customs procedures;
4. Make specific recommendations for
conducting negotiations on rules of origin.
In view of the different expertise
required to work on Customs Procedures on the one hand, and Rules of
Origin on the other, the members of this Working Group should consider
the most efficient way to ensure participation of the appropriate
experts.
III. THE WORKING GROUP ON INVESTMENT
WILL:
- 1. Create an inventory of investment
agreements and treaties, and the protection therein, that exist in the
region;
2. Compile in the most
efficient manner possible an inventory of investment regimes in the
region and, on the basis of this information, determine areas of
commonality and divergence and make specific recommendations.
IV. THE WORKING GROUP ON STANDARDS AND
TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE WILL:
- 1. Recommend specific ways to enhance
transparency, especially in standards development;
2. Compile information on the bodies
that exist which are charged with conformity assessment to technical
regulations in the Hemisphere, and those organizations that accredit
such bodies;
3. Recommend methods to promote
understanding of the WTO Agreement on Standards and Technical
Barriers to Trade, including through technical assistance;
4. Make recommendations on product
testing and certification, with a view to mutual recognition
agreements.
V. THE WORKING GROUP ON SANITARY AND
PHYTOSANITARY (SPS) MEASURES WILL:
- 1. Create an inventory of all
agreements on SPS in the Hemisphere and compile in the most efficient
manner possible an inventory of SPS regimes in the region;
2. Recommend specific ways to enhance transparency and
information-sharing and improve understanding of laws and regulations
that affect trade flows in the region;
3. Identify practices that may need
improvement, and make recommendations for their improvement;
4. Promote understanding of the WTO
Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, including through
technical assistance, and recommend measures for the effective
implementation of this Agreement.
5. Enhance mutual understanding of
the scientific basis for SPS certification procedures, with a view
to recommend ways to promote recognition of certificates among
countries of the Hemisphere.
6. Compile by the most efficient
means possible the methods used for risk assessment in the
Hemisphere, with a view to work toward common approaches.
VI. THE WORKING GROUP ON SUBSIDIES,
ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING DUTIES WILL:
- 1. Identify agricultural export
subsidies and other export practices with similar effects on
Hemispheric trade;
2. Recommend
ways to address all trade-distorting export practices for agricultural
products that are traded in or with the Hemisphere;
3. Promote understanding of WTO
obligations in the area of subsidies, and begin to compile an
inventory of subsidies practices in the Hemisphere.
4. Review information on the dumping
and subsidies laws of countries in the Hemisphere;
5. Exchange views on the application
and operation of trade remedy laws regarding subsidies and dumping
and develop recommendations for further work.
VII. THE WORKING GROUP ON SMALLER
ECONOMIES WILL:
- 1. Identify and assess the factors
affecting the participation of smaller economies in the FTAA and the
expansion of trade and investment stimulated therefrom;
2. Identify and examine ways to facilitate the adjustment of the
smaller economies to the FTAA process, including the promotion and
expansion of their trade, and provide recommendations on measures to
be taken and issues to be taken into account in the negotiations of
the FTAA;
3. Request the IDB, ECLAC, the OAS
and other relevant institutions to provide pertinent information on
their activities to facilitate integration of the smaller economies
in the Hemisphere.
INITIAL WORKING GROUP COORDINATORS
We have agreed that the first meeting of
each Working Group will be arranged by the following coordinators, which
will inform all countries in the Hemisphere of the proposed initial
meeting:
Market Access: El Salvador
Customs Procedures and Rules of Origin: Bolivia
Investment: Costa Rica
Standards and Technical Barriers to Trade: Canada
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Mexico
Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing Duties: Argentina
Smaller Economies: Jamaica
Footnotes
1
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, the United States of America, and
Venezuela.
2
Representatives of the Organization of American States, the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the UN Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) were invited as observers.
|