FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS
FOURTH MEETING OF MINISTERS OF TRADE
MINISTERIAL DECLARATION
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
MARCH 19th, 1998

ANNEX II
OBJECTIVE BY ISSUE AREA

MARKET ACCESS

Market Access
a. Consistent with the provisions of the WTO, including article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) and its Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, to progressively eliminate, tariffs, and non tariff barriers, as well as other measures with equivalent effects, which restrict trade between participating countries.
b. All tariffs will be subject to negotiation.
c. Different trade liberalization timetables may be negotiated.
d. To facilitate the integration of smaller economies and their full participation in the FTAA negotiations
   
Rules of Origin
a. To develop an efficient and transparent system of rules of origin, including nomenclature and certificates of origin, in order to facilitate the exchange of goods, without creating unnecessary obstacles to trade.
   
Customs Procedures
a. To simplify customs procedures, in order to facilitate trade and reduce administrative costs.
b. To create and implement mechanisms to exchange information in customs issues among FTAA countries.
c. To design effective systems to detect and combat fraud and other illicit customs activities, without creating unnecessary obstacles to foreign trade.
d. To promote customs mechanisms and measures that ensure operations be conducted with transparency, efficiency, integrity and responsibility.
   
Standards and Technical Barriers to Trade
a. To eliminate and prevent unnecessary technical barriers to trade in the FTAA, based on the proposals contained in the Common Objectives Paper approved by the Working Group.