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FTAA - COMMITTEE OF
GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON THE PARTICIPATION OF CONTRIBUTION IN RESPONSE TO THE OPEN AND ONGOING INVITATION
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Recommendations for the Market
Access Negotiating Group Executive Summary
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the
Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA),
and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this
opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and
we have previously submitted recommendations to the Committee of
Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society and to
the previous seven meetings of the Americas Business Forum giving our
perspective on how the agreement should be framed. With respect to the negotiating
group on market access, the FTAA negotiations should continue striving
for the earliest possible removal of all tariffs, quotas, and other
barriers to trade, more specifically, the elimination of a high
proportion of tariffs within five years. The negotiators can pursue
various procedures toward this end, including the immediate removal of
low tariffs, the adoption of ceiling rates from which progressive
reductions can be made, and the establishment of sectoral arrangements,
where appropriate. Additionally, each FTAA country should be required to
grant “national treatment” to goods of any other FTAA country. We
consider market access to be one of the most important components of any
future free-trade agreement for which our specific recommendations will
follow. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Recommendations for the Market
Access Negotiating Group The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the
Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA),
and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this
opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and
we have previously submitted recommendations to the Committee of
Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society and to
the previous seven meetings of the Americas Business Forum giving our
perspective on how the agreement should be framed. Specifically we recommend that the
governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to
take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final
FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures: Each FTAA country should
eliminate a high proportion of its tariffs within five years. The
negotiators should also consider measures by which FTAA countries
might agree to early elimination of tariffs in particular industry
sectors. In addition, the FTAA countries
should agree to eliminate de minimus tariffs during the 2002 FTAA
Trade Ministerial. The FTAA countries should take
steps to make the sanitary and phytosanitary health certification
process more transparent and efficient, including publishing
regulations and explanations of the certification process in English,
Portuguese and Spanish on the Internet and creating mechanisms that
allow companies track the progress of their certification requests
online. The FTAA countries should
establish a system (such as surety, satisfactory guarantee, bond, or
other appropriate instrument) that enables the eligible importer or
agent to obtain the goods (not posing environment, health or safety
threats) prior to the completion of administrative requirements and
payment of duties, taxes or fees. The FTAA Agreement should
require each FTAA country to grant “national treatment” to goods of
any other FTAA country in accordance with Article III of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). This means that FTAA
countries must treat imported goods no less favorably than they treat
like domestic goods in respect of all laws, regulations and
requirements affecting their sale, purchase, transportation and use. The FTAA Agreement should bar
FTAA countries from increasing existing tariffs or adopting new duties
on FTAA goods. Specifically, the FTAA countries should agree to set
currently enforced tariff levels as ceiling rates that cannot be
exceeded during the course of the FTAA negotiations. The FTAA
Agreement should also oblige FTAA countries to progressively
eliminate, according to a schedule attached to the FTAA Agreement,
tariffs and other fees or charges they impose which are not related to
an import service. The FTAA Agreement should
eliminate the need for consular transactions for FTAA goods, including
related fees. Consular transactions are requirements that customs
documents accompanying goods of one country intended for export to
another must first be certified by the consul of the importing
country. The FTAA Agreement should
prohibit export and import price requirements, import licensing
conditioned on the fulfillment of a performance requirement, and
voluntary export restraints not allowed under the WTO. The FTAA Agreement should
eliminate all differential export taxes on raw and processed
agricultural products. Consistent with Article VIII of
the GATT 1994, the FTAA Agreement should ensure that all fees and
charges imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation
are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered and
do not represent an indirect protection to domestic products or a
taxation of imports or exports. Each FTAA country should be
required to notify all other FTAA countries of all existing import
licensing procedures and fees imposed in connection with importation
and exportation. Thereafter, they must notify any new procedures or
fees and changes to existing procedures or fees within 60 days of
publication. The FTAA Agreement should adopt
straightforward, transparent, and easy-to-use rules to determine
origin. The Agreement should avoid requirements to “trace” the origin
of components. Expanding upon the
implementation of the “once tested accepted everywhere” principal
established during the VI Americas Business Forum 2001market access
negotiating group, the FTAA countries should accept one standard, one
test, third party certification or supplier’s declaration of
conformity accepted everywhere, at the customer’s choice. Each FTAA country should provide
electronically to the other FTAA countries’ standards inquiry points
the full text of draft technical regulations at the time that the
country sends notification of such measures to the WTO pursuant to the
TBT and SPS Agreements. The FTAA Agreement should also permit all
import documentation to be submitted electronically. The FTAA countries should
recommit themselves to the complete and rapid implementation of the
customs-related business facilitation measures adopted at the 1999
Toronto Trade Ministerial. The business facilitation process is an
essential part of the FTAA, and implementation of the business
facilitation measures should remain a priority in the FTAA process. |
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