1. During the Fifth Trade Ministerial Meeting held in Toronto on November 4, 1999, the Ministers Responsible for Trade of the Hemisphere welcomed the report of the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society, which presents a range of views received from individuals and organizations in the hemisphere. The Trade Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of transparency in the negotiating process and to conducting their negotiations in such a manner as to broaden public understanding and support for the FTAA.
    
2. They stressed the fact that the Committee was established as a mechanism to fulfill this commitment and to obtain ongoing input from Civil Society on trade matters relevant to the FTAA through written submissions, using the San Jose Declaration as the frame of reference. They also requested that the Committee present a report outlining the full range of views received for their consideration at the next Ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in Buenos Aires in April 2001.
    
3. The Committee acknowledges the submissions received in response to its first “Open Invitation to Civil Society” and thanks all those organizations and individuals who took the time and effort to contribute their views. In consideration of its mandate, and in order to obtain ongoing input from civil society on trade matters relevant to the FTAA, using the San José Declaration as the frame of reference, the Committee extends this invitation, as of April 10, to Civil Society to express their views in writing, by mail, fax, e-mail or courier.
    
4. In order to be considered, each submission must:

• Identify the person(s) and/or organization(s), with their address, that is/are presenting the point of view;

• Refer to the trade matters related to the FTAA process, using the Ministerial Declarations of San Jose and Toronto as the frame of reference ;

• Be in concise written form, in one of the official FTAA languages (Spanish, English, French, Portuguese);

• Be prefaced by the information requested in the cover sheet attached to this document and that is available on the FTAA web site (http://www.ftaa-alca.org) ;

• Include an executive summary of no more than two pages, including reference to the trade matters it refers to and the way the views contribute to the FTAA process, as stipulated in the Ministerial Declaration of San Jose;

• Be sent directly to the Chair of the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society, at the following address:

c/o Tripartite Committee (Ref. Civil Society)
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
1825 K Street NW, Suite 1120
Washington, D.C. 20006
Fax: (202) 296-0826
e-mail: socs@eclac.org

5. The Committee will prepare its next report to Ministers on the basis of submissions determined to conform with paragraph 4 of this invitation and that are received up to September 30, 2000.

FTAA - COMMITTEE OF GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON THE PARTICIPATION
OF CIVIL SOCIETY

COVER SHEET
 

ISSUES ADDRESSED (Check all that apply)