Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 38 • 13th November 2003

FTAA Mini-Ministerial Discusses Scope Of Agreement

Do More

Subscribe to Bridges

* required

Email Address: *

Country: *
Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua And Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas, The Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democractic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia (Hrvatska) Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong S.A.R. Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Korea, North Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau S.A.R. Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, The New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua new Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Island Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts And Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent And The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad And Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks And Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (British) Virgin Islands (US) Wallis And Futuna Islands Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe

Employment Sector: *

First Name:

Last Name:

Organisation:

Enter the letters shown above:*

Download this issue

See also

Ministers from 14 countries met on 8-9 November near Washington, D.C., to prepare for the eighth Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Ministerial meeting in Miami, Florida. Following the meeting, the Argentinean and Brazilian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Rafael Bielsa and Celso Amorim, described the meeting as "positive and realistic", and said it helped provide "a contribution of ideas for the coming agenda" for the trade negotiations. A senior US trade official said however that negotiators still faced major challenges in making the upcoming FTAA summit — to be held from 20-21 November in Miami — a success. Although he noted that the discussions had provided useful insight into country positions, he did not report any areas where differences between the US and Brazil had narrowed. The US and Brazil disagree, inter alia, on the scope of the FTAA, particularly over whether it should include negotiations on agricultural liberalisation.

At the meeting, Brazil proposed a compromise whereby member countries would have the option of opting out of sections of the FTAA they found objectionable. Amorim added, however, that Brazil would oppose any reduction of benefits, such as market access, as a penalty for not participating in these "plurilateral" pacts. This compromise, according to Amorim, provided "a good basis for a successful meeting in Miami" and was an attempt to resolve the difference of opinion between Brazil and the US as to the scope and nature of the FTAA agreement.

On this compromise deal, a US official commented that "What we’re trying to get now is as comprehensive an agreement as possible. So I think it’s premature to get into that kind of speculation".

Officials from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, the US and Uruguay attended the FTAA mini-ministerial.

The future of the FTAA

The FTAA Miami summit will mark the midpoint in the final phase of the FTAA negotiations. In these talks, 34 countries of the Americas (excluding Cuba) aim to agree on a free trade area extending from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego by January 2005.

According to some observers, negotiators are concerned that the 2005 deadline might not be met. In the US, upcoming presidential and congressional elections in 2004 may constrain negotiators, making them less willing to compromise — especially in the sensitive farming sector. The draft agreement still contains around 5000 unresolved issues. According to Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University in Miami, the deadline could be met, but "without the full participation of all 34 countries". He described the agreement as "anorexic" and "light". Robert Zoellick, US Trade Representative, has already mentioned that the US might produce NAFTA-like accords with countries that cooperate, giving them preferential access to the US market. He has indicated that the US is prepared to leave Brazil and other so-called "won’t-do" countries out if they block regional or global agreements.

The US, the world’s largest economy and Brazil, the largest economy in South America, co-chair the FTAA meetings. They remain divided in their views on key issues (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 October 2003, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-08/story4.htm). When debating the nature and scope of the agreements, Brazil has insisted that tariff reductions, improved market access and reduced farm subsidies should be the crux of negotiations. The US, on the other hand, believes that negotiations on agricultural subsidies and antidumping rules should be left to WTO talks.

Though not yet included, ministers will consider integrating labour and environmental protection rules in the agreement during future negotiations. These topics have proven controversial in the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA, see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 November 2003), and are likely to pose a challenge in the FTAA context as well.

The FTAA Miami summit will take place from 20-21 November 2003.

"No US breakthroughs with Brazil reported in trade talks," DOW JONES NEWSWIRES, 8 November 2003; "A more flexible FTAA," MERCOPRESS, 10 November 2003; "Americas free-trade zone could be "anorexic" at first," CHANNELNEWSASIA.COM, 12 November 2003; "US, Brazil set joint ideas for trade pact," YAHOO NEWS, 9 November 2003; "US and Brazil bend on free- trade agreement," THE CHINA POST, 10 November 2003; "Brazil calls on US to move forward "gradually" toward FTAA," AFP, 8 November 2003; "Standoff between US and Brazil jeopardises goal of hemisphere- wide free trade area," AP, 7 November 2003.

.