NEWS RELEASES
FTAA MINISTERS ENDORSE CANADIAN PROPOSALTO RELEASE DRAFT NEGOTIATING TEXTS
April 7, 2001 (9:30 p.m. EDT) No. 44
FTAA MINISTERS ENDORSE CANADIAN PROPOSAL
TO RELEASE DRAFT NEGOTIATING TEXTS
The western hemisphere's trade ministers reached a historic turning point today in endorsing a proposal by International
Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew to release the consolidated draft negotiating texts of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) agreement.
The texts will be released once they are available in the four official languages of the FTAA negotiations -- English,
French, Spanish and Portuguese. Trade ministers made the announcement in a joint declaration issued after talks concluded
today in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"The release of these texts is the culmination of Canada's effort to increase transparency in the FTAA process that had its
roots in the 1999 FTAA Ministerial meeting in Toronto," said Minister Pettigrew. "It is clear that the region's governments
have been persuaded by Canada's position that democratic countries must be open to greater transparency in trade
negotiations."
Another Canadian proposal to make the FTAA negotiations more open and receptive to citizen input also gained support at
the meeting of ministers. Ministers agreed to strengthen the mandate of the FTAA's Civil Society Committee. One of the
recommendations approved was that the Committee will forward submissions from civil society directly to the appropriate
negotiating groups.
"There is a growing willingness to give civil society a greater voice as we reach the mid-point in the FTAA negotiations,"
said Minister Pettigrew. "My colleagues have accepted Canada's long-standing view that the economic advantages of freer
trade in the hemisphere can be realized only with a broader base of public support and a clearer appreciation of citizens'
concerns."
Other key results from Saturday's meeting included:
agreement to complete negotiations no later than January 1, 2005, and to implement the agreement no later than
December 31, 2005; and
agreement that the Trade Negotiation Committee will hold at least three meetings over the next 18 months, culminating
in a meeting of ministers no later than October 31, 2002.
The complete final statement from the Ministerial meeting will be available on the Department's FTAA Web site
(http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/ftaa1-e.asp).
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Sébastien Théberge
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
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