AG/RES. 1516 (XXVII-O/97)
TRADE AND INTEGRATION IN THE AMERICAS
(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive Committee
of the Inter-American Council on Integral Development on the implementation of AG/RES.
1430 (XXVI-O/96) (AG/doc.3527/97);
RECALLING:
Resolution AG/RES. 1430 (XXVI-O/96), "Trade and Integration in the Americas";
Resolution AG/RES. 1438 (XXVI-O/96), "Relationship Between the Special Committee
on Trade and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development";
Resolution AG/RES. 1349 (XXV-O/95), "Inter-American Summits Management"; and
Resolution AG/RES. 1220 (XXIII-O/93), "Establishment of the Special Committee on
Trade (CEC)," in which member states noted that the Organization of American States
(OAS) is an appropriate hemispheric forum for dialogue on trade matters;
BEARING IN MIND the Declaration of Montrouis: A New Vision of the OAS, in which the
General Assembly expressed support for the member states' efforts in the areas of economic
integration and promotion of free trade in the region, in keeping with the objective of
concluding negotiations on establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by
the year 2005, as agreed to at the Summit of the Americas;
TAKING NOTE with satisfaction of the joint declaration adopted by the ministers
responsible for trade at the Third Trade Ministerial Meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in
which they reiterated their commitment to conclude negotiations on the FTAA by the year
2005, and acknowledged and expressed again their appreciation for the technical and
logistical support provided to the working groups established within the framework of the
FTAA by the Tripartite Committee, composed of the OAS, the Inter-American Development
Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;
CONSIDERING that economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and
market access constitute one of the priorities established in the Strategic Plan for
Partnership for Development 1997-2001 and that the process of creating the FTAA is a
fundamental element in this context; and
REAFFIRMING the commitment of the Organization of American States to support the
process of free trade and economic integration in the Hemisphere and to reiterate the
importance of the technical contribution of the General Secretariat and in particular the
Trade Unit to this process,
RESOLVES:
- To take note of the report of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive
Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) on the
implementation of resolution AG/RES. 1430 (XXVI-O/96), "Trade and Integration in the
Americas."
- To request the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI to jointly examine the way in which the
OAS responds to the concerns of member states on trade matters, particularly in the
context of increasing trade and economic integration in the Hemisphere, and to instruct
the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI, on the basis of the conclusions of this examination and
for the purpose of clearly defining the future contribution of the OAS in this area, to
take action in their respective areas of competence and to formulate, as appropriate,
further recommendations to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session.
- To reiterate that, in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 1220 (XXIII-O/93), the CEC
"shall hold one regular meeting each year" and to recommend that the
Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) convoke a meeting of the CEC,
either in Washington, D.C. or on the margins of an already scheduled trade
vice-ministerial meeting, before the end of 1997, with a view to considering the way in
which the OAS is addressing the issue of trade and, in particular, the roles of the CEC
and its Advisory Group in light of the FTAA process.
- To instruct the General Secretariat to provide assistance to individual member states,
on request, as agreed to by the ministers responsible for trade in the Joint Declaration
of Belo Horizonte.
- To instruct CIDI to support projects, programs, and activities related to the priority
area of economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access,
in keeping with the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001.
- To reiterate its support for the collaborative activities on trade and integration of
the Tripartite Committee, and to recognize the contributions to those activities of other
specialized regional, subregional, and multilateral organizations and of regional and
subregional institutions.
- To instruct the General Secretariat to continue providing, through the Trade Unit,
analytical support and technical assistance and conducting related studies, as part of the
Tripartite Committee process or as requested by the respective working groups established
under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process, and to report on an ongoing
basis to the Permanent Council, CEPCIDI, and the CEC on its activities in this area.
- To instruct the General Secretariat to submit, by October 31, 1997, the 1998 annual
program of activities of the Trade Unit to the CEC for its consideration and approval or,
in the event the CEC does not meet, to CEPCIDI for approval ad referendum to the
next regular meeting of CIDI.
- To instruct the General Secretariat to continue providing quarterly written progress
reports on the activities of the Trade Unit, including information on its level of budget
execution, to the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI for their review.
- To recognize the important achievements of the Foreign Trade Information System (SICE)
and in particular the measures taken to broaden its trade and trade-related information
and its client base and to support its continued operations, specifically the
establishment of an official Internet home page for the FTAA process.
- To instruct the General Secretariat to ensure coordination between the Executive
Secretariat for Integral Development and the appropriate offices of the General
Secretariat, particularly the Trade Unit, in their activities supporting the
implementation of this resolution.
- To direct that the mandates in the preceding paragraphs be executed within the
allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources.
- To request the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI to report to the General Assembly at its
twenty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.
Documents of the OAS