Free Trade Area of the Americas - FTAA

español français

 
Ministerial
Declarations
Trade Negotiations
Committee
Negotiating
Groups
Special
Committees
Business
Facilitation
Civil
Society
Trade&Tariff
Database
Hemispheric
Cooperation
Program

Home Countries Sitemap A-Z list Governmental Contact Points

 
 

Derestricted
FTAA.soc/13/Add.5
November 1, 2002

Original: English - Spanish
Translation: non FTAA Secretariat



ANNEX E: NORTH AMERICA REGIONAL SEMINAR

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

MEXICO

SUMMARY REPORT ON THE NORTH AMERICA REGIONAL SEMINAR



At the meeting in Buenos Aires on April 7, 2001, the Ministers of the Western Hemisphere responsible for trade reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of transparency in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process. Likewise, the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society emphasized the holding of regional seminars as a priority means of fostering a constructive dialogue on the FTAA process with the members of civil society in the Hemisphere.

Taking this into consideration, the governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States, under the auspices of Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy, coordinated a North American regional seminar entitled “FTAA: Opportunities and Challenges for North America” in Merida, Yucatan on July 18, 2002.

The Seminar, the objective of which was to foster a constructive dialogue with civil society, was the first regional forum in North America on the FTAA. Over one hundred members of the North American civil society organizations participated in the seminar, as well as high-level government representatives involved in the FTAA process.

The Seminar consisted of three panel discussions including Market Access and Agriculture; Services and Investment; and Transparency and Civil Society Participation in the FTAA Process. A program listing the government representatives and civil society panelists is attached.

For each panel, a government representative opened the discussion. Afterward, a representative of civil society from each of the three countries delivered a presentation on the topic at hand, which initiated a rich exchange of opinions among the participants.

A transcript and recorded webcast will be available on the websites of the three participating governments.

 

"Opportunities and Challenges of the FTAA for North America"
July 18, 2002, Mérida, Yucatán
Hotel Fiesta Americana
Hall Yucatán 1

PROGRAM



8:30 - 9:00

 
Registration
9:00 - 9:45 Inauguration
 
  Ana Rosa Payan Servera,
Mayor of the City of Merida
 
  Fernando de Mateo Venturini,
General Coordinator of Negotiations with Latin America, FTAA, Europe and the Services Sector, Secretariat of Economy of Mexico
 
  Fernando Durán,
President of the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society in the FTAA.
Director of Information, Analysis and Strategic Programming,
Presidency of the Dominican Republic.
 
  Guy Puerto Espinosa,
Secretary of Industrial Development and Trade of the Government of Yucatan
 
9:45 – 10:00 Recess
 
10:00 – 12:00 Workshop I: Market Access / Agriculture
 
  Chair
Salim Rodríguez Salomon,
President of the Negotiations and Promotion Commission of the
Puebla-Panama Plan
 
Introduction Government Representatives
Introduction Claude Carrière,
FTAA Chief Negotiator and Director General of the Trade Policy
Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
of Canada.
 
  Regina Vargo
Assistant United States Trade Representative for the Americas, Office
of the United States Trade Representative.
 
  Roberto Zapata
Adjunct General Director on Market Access
Secretariat of Economy of Mexico
 
  Panelists
Don Mackay,
Executive Director of FOCAL (Canadian Foundation for the Americas)
 
  Chris Padilla,
Eastman Kodak (USA)
 
  Heladio Ramírez López,
President of the National Confederation of Peasants of Mexico
 
  EXCHANGE WITH PARTICIPANTS
(1 HOUR)
 
12:00 - 12:10 Recess
 
12:10 - 14:10 Workshop II: Services/ Investment
 
  Chair
Rodolfo Canto Sáenz,
Director de the Economics Department of the Universidad Autonoma
de Yucatan
 
Introduction Government Representatives
Introduction Carlos García Fernández,
General Director of Foreign Investment
Secretariat of Economy of Mexico
 
  Claude Carrière,
FTAA Chief Negotiator and Director General of the Trade Policy
Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of
Canada.
 
  Joseph Papovich
Assistant United States Trade Representative for Services, Investment,
and Intellectual Property Rights.
 
  Panelists
Milos Barutciski,
Chair of the International Law Section of the Canadian Bar
Association.
 
  Laura Lane,
AOL, Time Warner (EUA)
 
  Víctor Suárez Carrera,
Coordination Member of the Mexican Network against Free Trade.
 
  EXCHANGE WITH PARTICIPANTS
(1 HOUR)
 
14:10 - 15:30 14-10 LUNCH
 
15:30 - 17:30 Workshop III: Transparency and Civil Society Participation on the FTAA process
 
  Chair
Gabriel Quadri de la Torre,
General Director of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies
of the Private Sector
 
Introduction Government Representatives
Shaun Donnelly,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
United States Department of State (EUA)
 
  Claude Carrière,
FTAA Chief Negotiator and Director General of the Trade Policy
Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of
Canada.
 
  Héctor Márquez Solís.
General Director on North America Trade Agreements, Secretariat of
Economy of Mexico
 
  Panelists
Don Mackay,
Executive Director of FOCAL (Canadian Foundation for the Americas)
 
  Mara Burr,
Special Counsel for International Trade Policy
Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International
  Ramón Scott,
President of the Interuniversity Foundation on Foreign Trade
(FICOMEXT)
 
  EXCHANGE WITH PARTICIPANTS
(1 HOUR)
 
17:30 - 17:40 Recess
 
17:40 - 18:00 Conclusion of the Seminar
Fernando Durán,
President of the Committee of Government Representatives on the
Participation of Civil Society in the FTAA.
Director of Information, Analysis and Strategic Programming,
Presidency of the Dominican Republic.
 
CLOSING CEREMONY
 
  Fernando de Mateo Venturini,
General Coordinator of Negotiations with Latin America, FTAA,
Europe and the Services Sector, Secretariat of Economy of
Mexico
 
18:30 - 19:30 COCKTAIL PARTY (Hall Yucatan 1)

 
countries sitemap a-z list governmental contact points