Public
FTAA.soc/civ/86/Add.1
May 27, 2003
Original: English
FTAA -
COMMITTEE OF GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON THE PARTICIPATION OF
CIVIL SOCIETY
CONTRIBUTION IN RESPONSE TO THE OPEN AND ONGOING INVITATION
Name(s): |
Mara M. Burr |
Organization(s): |
The Humane Society of the United States |
Country: |
United States |
Executive Summary
Written Comments of The Humane Society of the United States
Dispute Settlement
1. The settlement of disputes is an important part of the FTAA and
should be as inclusive as possible. The current text contains some
troubling language that is neither transparent not allows for the
participation of civil society in the process. These issues need to be
addressed in a manner that provides for greater transparency in the
process and a system that is more open to the participation of civil
society.
Chapter on Agriculture
2. The negotiations on agriculture need to address the issues of animal
welfare and environmental protection. The FTAA Parties should consider
the economic benefits of adopting more humane, animal friendly and
environmentally responsible agriculture production methods.
General and Institutional Issues
3. A mechanism should be created to allow for the formal participation
of civil society in the FTAA process. This would be a bold and
innovative proposal and exactly the type of mechanism that will be
important to the future of the FTAA.
4. Capacity building and technical assistance are important aspects of
the FTAA process but have not received either the attention or the
resources necessary to address the needs of the region. The FTAA Parties
should create a mechanism whereby governments, NGOs, corporations and
other private parties could join forces to begin to address the capacity
building needs of the region.
Conclusion
5. To be successful and gain popular support, the FTAA Agreement must be
innovative and forward thinking, including to the greatest extent
possible the input and participation of civil society in the
negotiations and in the overall process.
April 30, 2003
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
soc@ftaa-alca.com
VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS
OVERNIGHT INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY
Secretaria del Area de Libre Comerico de Las Americas (ALCA)
8 Oriente N º 1006
Paseo San Francisco
Centro Histórico, Puebla 72000
Mexico
Re: Open and Ongoing Invitation to Civil Society
Comments on the Second Draft Consolidated Texts of the Free Trade Area
of the Americas
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
Pursuant to the notices in the Federal Register1
, The Humane Society of
the United States (HSUS) hereby provides comments on the second draft of
the consolidated texts of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and
other issues for consideration. The HSUS is actively involved in
international trade policy and serves as a member of the Trade and
Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC). The HSUS participated in
the First Regional Seminar on the FTAA held in Merida, Mexico in July
2002 and is actively involved in promoting animal protection,
transparency, the participation of civil society, and environmental
issues in these negotiations.
As a threshold matter, it is important to point out that there are
currently no negotiations in the FTAA on environment or labor. Although
these areas may pose some difficulties for certain Parties to the FTAA
negotiations, it is simply untenable to exclude these areas from the
negotiations. The FTAA is an important tool that may provide the basis
for greater economic development in the Western Hemisphere. However, if
environmental protection issues, sustainable development and labor
issues are not addressed in the agreement then it will ultimately be
unsuccessful. It is extremely important that civil society in each of
the 34 countries have opportunities to engage in the FTAA process to
provide insight and guidance to the negotiators. The citizens of each
FTAA Party must be provided with adequate information about the process
and encouraged to effectively engage with their representatives in the
negotiations.
Sustainable development is more than a catch phrase; it is the new
paradigm in economic relations because developing countries must be
provided the opportunity to develop in a manner that is sustainable and
equitable. The pursuit of economic expansion and increasing trade
without any consideration about the effect such efforts will have on the
environment, citizens, animals and shared natural resources is not
prudent and will not lead to sustainable development.
The Parties negotiating the FTAA are in a position to craft a free trade
agreement that is substantially improved over previous agreements. The
lessons learned in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT
1947), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) should be employed in the FTAA negotiations.
There are clear lessons to be learned from the problems identified in
these previous agreements. Those problems should not be perpetuated in
the FTAA.
The HSUS believes that the 34 Parties to the FTAA negotiations can and
must do better than in past negotiations and agreements. The FTAA
represents a unique opportunity to right the wrongs and correct the
errors found in previous multilateral, regional and bilateral free trade
agreements. The HSUS respectfully requests that the FTAA Parties
endeavor to do better and reach a fair and equitable agreement that will
benefit a majority of citizens, economic development, sustainable
development, the environment, animals and natural resources.
In this submission, The HSUS provides comments on the Dispute Settlement
chapter, the Agriculture chapter and the Institutional chapter. The HSUS
will provide comments on other chapters in subsequent submissions.
1 Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of
Civil Society of an Open and Ongoing Invitation for Public Comment,
67 Fed. Reg. 79231-79232 (Dec. 27, 2002). Second Draft Consolidated Texts of
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement, 67 Fed. Reg.
79232-79234 (Dec. 27, 2002).
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