A rchive Date
[ 21-11-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Economics ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/11/17/260655-ap.html
Watered-down Americas free trade bloc created
Thu, November 20, 2003
MIAMI (CP) - Trade ministers from across the Americas - unable to agree on thorny issues like agricultural subsidies but under pressure to avoid another failure in international talks - approved a watered-down framework Thursday for the world's largest free-trade bloc.
Ministers from 34 countries in the Americas, excluding only Cuba, were originally scheduled to finish negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas on Friday. But after days of debate, they said Thursday they had achieved all they could in Miami. The announcement came as police and anti-FTAA protesters clashed a few blocks from the hotel where the meeting was being held. Opponents said the agreement will hurt workers rights and the environment.
Canada's International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said: "I welcome the progress that was made in Miami."
"Although we did not achieve all that we had sought, we have succeeded in narrowing differences on the way forward for the final phase of negotiations. We remain committed to creating a comprehensive, high-quality FTAA that promotes economic integration in the Americas and offers new opportunities for Canadian business and investors," he said.
The meeting also featured a report presented by Labour Minister Claudette Bradshaw on the labour dimensions of economic integration in the hemisphere.
In addition to the ministerial meeting, Pettigrew met with the participants of the Americas Trade and Sustainable Development Forum, as well as the Americas Business Forum to exchange views on issues related to the FTAA negotiations, including labour, environment, transparency and civil society participation.
Ministers hailed their final declaration as a victory, with both former rivals the United States and Brazil saying it shows there has been progress in bringing countries together since World Trade Organization's talks collapsed two months ago in Mexico.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said ministers "learned some lessons" since Mexico and had moved the "FTAA into a new phase, from general concepts and people talking past each other to positive realities."
During the WTO talks in Mexico, Brazil led a group of more than 20 countries who insisted the United States and Europe eliminate agricultural subsidies. Since the talks collapsed, the WTO's 146 members have made little progress in breaking the deadlock.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Thursday's declaration is a good sign there may be future movement within the WTO and he agreed countries are no longer "dancing to the beat of their own drummer, trying to explain his or her position."
During FTAA negotiations, the U.S. administration has tried to keep negotiations on cutting subsidies to farmers at the global level through the WTO. Brazil has done the same with discussions on investment and intellectual-property rights.
The FTAA declaration, hammered out by deputy ministers Wednesday, calls for a core agreement that all countries must follow but allows each country to decide its commitment to the more controversial topics.
Mexico Economy Secretary Fernando Canales expressed some disappointment the draft didn't go farther in defining how markets would be opened and when. "We want to go beyond this point," he said.
Thursday's declaration will now be turned over to negotiators for more work, which all acknowledged would be difficult. "This remains a tremendous challenge," Zoellick said.
The final FTAA agreement, due to be reached by January 2005, will likely change what food consumers buy in supermarkets from Alaska to Argentina, as well as dictate the future jobs of the hemisphere's workers.
In a speech to business leaders Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans said after nearly a decade of talks on an FTAA, it was time to have an agreement. "Nine years is too long and it's time for action," he said. "We can't sit around here waiting for people to study it and study it and study it."
However, he promised to protect U.S. employees from unfair practices. "We have to be able to look our workers in the eyes and tell them they are on a level playing field," he said.
Also Thursday, police clashed with demonstrators a few blocks from the hotel where the trade meetings were being held, firing off rubber bullets and using plastic shields, concussion grenades and stun guns to push back the crowd. Some protesters fired slingshots and threw water bottles and other objects at officers.
The clashes came before and after a peaceful march organized by U.S. labour unions. An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 marchers took part, arguing the FTAA will take thousands of jobs to other countries, reduce workers' rights by exploiting cheap labour and drain natural resources.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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