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Americas - Institutions
The effort to
unite the economies of the Americas into a single free trade area began at
the Summit of the Americas, which was held in December 1994 in Miami, U.S.A.
The Heads of State and Government of the 34 democracies in the region agreed
to construct a Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, in which barriers
to trade and investment will be progressively eliminated. The Summit of the
Americas.
The FTAA negotiations were formally launched in April 1998 at the Second
Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. The Heads of State and Government
participating in the Second Summit of the Americas agreed that the FTAA
Agreement will be balanced, comprehensive, WTO-consistent, and will constitute a
single undertaking.
They also agreed that the negotiating process will be transparent and take
into account the differences in the levels of development and size of the
economies in the Americas in order to facilitate full participation by all
countries. Furthermore, they agreed that the negotiations should proceed in
order to contribute to raising living standards, improving working conditions of
all people in the Americas, and better protecting the environment. |
