Introduction to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement

Organization of American StatesOrganization of American StatesGeneral SecretariatGeneral Secretariat

Trade UnitTrade Unit

The Western HemisphereYukon

Tierra del Fuego

• 40 Mil. Km2• 802.5 Million

people•GDP of US$ 10.8 Trillion

• 34 OAS members

FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS

I Summit of the Americas, Miami, 1994

II Summit of the Americas, Chile, 1998

FTAA preparatory process

III Summit of the Americas, Canada, 2001

Preliminary Process of FTAA

Trade Ministerial MeetingsDENVER, COLORADO, 1996

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA, 1996

BELO HORIZONTE, BRASIL, 1997

SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA, 1998

TORONTO, CANADA, 1999

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, 2001

MINISTERS OF COMMERCE

Tripartite Committe

e

OASIDB

ECLAC

TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE (TNC)

Vice-Ministers level

NINE NEGOTIATING GROUPS

Administrative Secretariat

CONSULTATIVEGROUP ON SMALLER

ECONOMIES

CIVIL SOCIETY

COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS

ONELECTRONICCOMMERCE

STRUCTURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

ON INSTITUTIONAL

ISSUES

FTAA CHAIRSFTAA CHAIRS

May 1998May 1998 Nov 1999Nov 1999

Nov 1999Nov 1999 May 2001May 2001

May 2001May 2001 Nov 2002Nov 2002

Nov 2002Nov 2002 Dec 2004Dec 2004

Vice-Vice- chairchairChairChair

CanadaCanada

ArgentinaArgentina

EcuadoEcuadorr

Brazil and the United States Brazil and the United States

ArgentinaArgentina

EcuadorEcuador

ChilChileeCo-chairs

FTAA Negotiating GroupsFTAA Negotiating Groups

Government Government ProcurementProcurementCOSTA RICACOSTA RICAColombiaColombia

InvestmenInvestment t MEXICOMEXICOBoliviaBolivia

Competition Competition PolicyPolicyCOLOMBIACOLOMBIAPerúPerú

Dispute Dispute Settlement Settlement PARAGUAYPARAGUAYChileChile

ServicesServices BAHAMASBAHAMASVenezuelaVenezuelaMarket Market

AccessAccessARGENTINAARGENTINAColombiaColombia

IntellectuIntellectual al PropertyPropertyUSAUSARep.Dom.Rep.Dom.

Subsidies, Subsidies, AD/CVDAD/CVDPERÚPERÚCARICOMCARICOM

AgricultureAgricultureGUATEMALGUATEMALAAUruguayUruguay

OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

CIVIL SOCIETY

SMALL ECONOMIES

E - COMMERCE

BUSINESS FACILITATION

Business Facilitation Measures

Customs Measures

Transparency measures

1. Temporary Imports2. Express shipments3. Low value shipments4. Electronic data interchange

6. Information guide of customs procedures7. Codes of conduct8. Risk analysis

1. Hyperlink project

2. Data bases inventories

Determining and supervising implementation of business facilitation measures is an ongoing FTAA task

5. Harmonized commodity description

Tripartite CommitteeInter-American

Development Bank(IDB)

United NationsEconomic Commission for Latin America and

the Caribbean(ECLAC)

Provides technical support to the FTAA process

Organization of American States (OAS)

INTERNET RESOURCESFTAA Official Site

http://www.sice.oas.org

http://www.ftaa-alca.org