
Français		Home		Contact Us		Help		Search		canada.gc.ca		Canada International

Home > Media Room

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

Canadian Offices Abroad

Services for Canadian Travellers

Services for Business

Canada in the World

About the Department

SPEECHES

2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1996

Print friendly version - Printing Tips

<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title>MR. MARCHI - ADDRESS TOTHE CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR THE AMERICAS - TORONTO, ONTARIO</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 98/28 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE SERGIO MARCHI MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE TO THE CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR THE AMERICAS TORONTO, Ontario April 14, 1998 This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca It's great to be with you today. Actually, it's great just to be back in Canada. Over the past few weeks I have been in Costa Rica, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, and of course I'm about to leave for Santiago. They told me I was going to see the world in this portfolio but I didn't think I was going to see it all in the first year! Let me begin by congratulating the Canadian Council for the Americas [CCA] on your 10th anniversary. As we've just heard, these have been 10 dynamic years, during which you emerged as a vital voice for enhanced trade and investment between Canada and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. So I am delighted to be with you today and to express my congratulations -- and my appreciation -- to the Council for your years of service to Canada and the rest of the Americas. In particular, I want to thank you for your magnificent contribution to the most recent Team Canada trade mission -- the largest and most comprehensive to date. Some 60 participants in that mission were members of the CCA. I was delighted to meet them, get to know them better and see them achieve such great success. Talking with many of the companies involved in the mission -- and with other Canadian businesses -- I am most impressed at how bullish they are on this region. They point to how well regarded Canada and her companies are and how we are seen as a counterbalance to the United States in the region. They also point to our trade agreements with Mexico and Chile and our negotiations towards an enhanced relationship with the Mercosur nations. And they point to the similarity of our business cultures and even of our time zones. So our business community has clearly recognized the opportunities that await them in Latin America. The size and accomplishments of the Team Canada mission gave only a taste of the excitement and enthusiasm that Canada feels about the launch of the FTAA [Free Trade Area of the Americas] later this week in Santiago. Of course, those of you here understand these opportunities better than most. You know that by the year 2000, Latin America will have a population of 500 million and a GDP [gross domestic product] of $2 trillion. You also know that in the years ahead, this will be one of the "big three" regions, along with Europe and Asia. And you understand how well Canada is positioned -- with historic connections to the 15-member European Union [EU], emerging links with the 18 APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum] countries and hemispheric links with the 34 states of Latin America -- to participate in, and benefit from, our association. Strategically Canada is well positioned with membership in two of three regional clubs -- the APEC and the FTAA -- and deep historical roots to the third, namely Europe. Latin America represents a ground-floor opportunity and Canada does not intend to be left out. This afternoon, I would like to offer you a brief report on what was achieved at the Trade Ministers meeting last month in Costa Rica, in preparation for the FTAA liftoff. I'll also outline some of the challenges we face as we look to Santiago and beyond. While the seeds of this immense project were planted in Miami, the dream for unifying the Americas was germinated in the hearts and minds of people over countless generations. Now, we have the opportunity to bring this great dream to reality -- to transform the hemisphere with the power of an idea. I can tell you that our meeting in Costa Rica was animated both by the excitement of participating in history and a keen sense of responsibility to those who will live that history. We knew that there was much to be done if we were to discharge our responsibility and, that while it was fine to have castles in the air, what we really needed was progress on the ground. And so, at Costa Rica, we began to lay the foundations for Santiago. Let me mention a few. First of all, we agreed that it was important to have a clean and comprehensive launch at Santiago. If we are to maintain the momentum generated to date, we will need to demonstrate our determination to get right to work and tackle the tough issues. To that end, we agreed that the Trade Negotiations Committee will hold its first meeting before the end of June. The individual negotiating groups are to begin their work by September of this year. And, I think it is significant that we have not chosen to address the so-called easy issues first and leave the more complicated items to a later date. Such an approach has its appeal but it would send the wrong signals and start us off on the wrong foot. Instead, Ministers agreed to put all of our cards on the table so that all negotiations could start immediately and proceed simultaneously. In terms of content, nine negotiating groups were established on the issues of market access, agriculture, investment, government procurement, services, intellectual property rights, subsidies, anti-dumping and countervail, competition policy and dispute settlement. As you may know, Miami will be the venue for these negotiations over the next three years. This choice is a strong indication that the United States intends to remain fully engaged in the discussions. Subsequently, the Secretariat will transfer to Panama and Mexico for the remainder of the seven-year journey. This will ensure both balance and an appropriate sharing of responsibilities. A second significant achievement of the Costa Rica meeting was the creation of a Consultative Group on Smaller Economies to ensure that the concerns of smaller nations are taken fully into account in the talks. Canada understands these concerns. Having negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States -- a country 10 times our economic size -- we are sensitive to those issues and we were aggressive in voicing them at the Costa Rica meeting. If you are from Trinidad, for example, with 1 million people, and you look at Brazil, with 160 million, certain legitimate concerns naturally arise. So we have to go into these talks with our eyes open, and our hearts and minds must be equally open to the marked differences between economies. To do otherwise would be to risk leaving some countries behind, just as we are beginning. It was also agreed in Costa Rica to establish a committee that will receive input from a broad cross-section of our civil societies -- such as labour, environmental groups and the academic community -- about how they think the FTAA should evolve. This particular initiative was sponsored by Canada and we are very proud to see it reflected in the results of the meeting. We think it is a crucial requirement. I will have more to say on this in a moment. Finally, Ministers turned to Canada to chair the negotiations of the FTAA for the first crucial 18 months. This also means that we will host the next Ministerial meeting, scheduled for later next year. Canada accepts the chair position with both pride and enthusiasm. It is a strong vote of confidence in our ability to get the talks off to a quick and productive start. While it is an honour we did not seek, it is a challenge we willingly accept. In this regard, we are particularly pleased that the final outcome of the Costa Rica meeting reflects, to a significant extent, the Canadian declaration, which we tabled at the start of the talks. Of course, any initiative as broad in scope and as ambitious in intent as the FTAA will present challenges as well as opportunities. Let me turn now to some of the challenges we face. First, and most obvious, is the lack of U.S. fast-track authority. Now, I know there are those who say that no fast-track at the start of the talks means that the talks are going to fizzle or even fail, that we are starting out with one hand tied behind our backs. I disagree. Of course, it would have been preferable for President Clinton to arrive in Santiago with fast-track, but the reality is that much work can and will be done at the front end, without fast-track authority. In fact, the greatest danger now is to allow uncertainty to become paralysis -- because the real question is not whether fast-track will come but when. The U.S. administration is extremely supportive of this historic undertaking. So too is the American business community. I think it is just a matter of time before Congress follows suit. Clearly, we would prefer to see fast-track authority come sooner into the talks rather than later, because no one will want to negotiate twice. But let's keep this in perspective: when the Uruguay Round began in 1986, the United States Government didn't have fast-track authority either but was able to obtain it during the course of the negotiations. In addition, the deadline for negotiating the FTAA is 2005. This is a long-distance race, not a hundred-yard sprint. We have to pace ourselves. A second challenge is for the FTAA to develop a rules-based regime with a strong and independent dispute settlement mechanism that treats all partners equally, not by the measure of their might. Rules lead to stability, predictability and fairness. Canada knows this firsthand, having negotiated an effective dispute settlement mechanism with the United States in the FTA [Free Trade Agreement] of 1988. We have seen it work, experienced its effectiveness and understand its importance. This is one of the principle reasons that permits us to do so well in our bilateral relationships despite the huge size differential in our economies. There are no shortcuts for an effective outcome. Only through well-defined rules will we prevent a "law of the jungle" in international trade. The final challenge before us is to engage our peoples in this ambitious project. The Canadian government, and Canadians generally, want the process to be transparent. And we want to involve our citizens in its creation, to share with them the excitement in building something truly historic -- not simply to present it to them afterwards as a fait accompli. We have the chance to set this tone right at the start of the negotiations. I am very hopeful that Canadians from all walks of life will give this careful consideration and then provide us with their views. To facilitate Canadians' input, we will be devising a public process of engagement and discussion. I would also expect that organizations such as yours will be an integral part of this dialogue, and will play a leadership role in demonstrating the benefits and the opportunities that the FTAA offers to Canadians. In closing, let me say that I believe there are certain times in the life of a nation when vital decisions are made and new directions are charted. I believe that Canada faces such a moment now. Our commitment to pursue an FTAA -- indeed, to take a leadership role in the effort -- will affect not only who our trading partners will be, but also how we view ourselves and our place in the world community. Over the coming few years, I predict that there is going to be a dramatic discovery among Canadians. We will move from seeing ourselves as proud North Americans, with strong and historic roots in Europe and exciting new bonds with Asia, to a nation and a people who are prepared to embrace the world of the Americas and help shape a common destiny. The historic hosting of the Trade Ministerial in 1999 will be part of the shift; the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg next year; and the OAS [Organization of American States] meeting in 2000 will all be a part of the process of transformation -- our rendez-vous with yet another side of the Canadian identity. We are embarking on a great journey with both optimism and realism. We are under no illusions about the task before us, but we are also aware of the historic opportunities that await us. Our goal is nothing less than a free trade area stretching from the Arctic Circle to Argentina: one giant market. But we do not seek this agreement to enhance trade for its own sake. We seek to enhance trade for the benefit of the people and their families who will find markets for their products, rewards for their labour and hope for their future. Nor should anyone think that the FTAA is simply about trade. It is much more. It will incorporate important initiatives toward elevating education and training, eradicating poverty levels and building up democratic institutions. In the end, the FTAA is about tying together the strands of the Americas and knitting them into a true community. We can unite the Americas as never before and create a region great in both prosperity and freedom, for all of our peoples. More than 150 years ago, Simón Bolívar spoke of his desire to see the Americas fashioned into the greatest region in the world -- "greatest," he said, "not so much by virtue of her area and her wealth, as by her freedom and her glory." Today, we have the opportunity to bring Bolívar's dream closer to reality, for the FTAA is about discovering freedom in diversity and creating strength in unity. Thank you. </body> </html>

2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1996

Print friendly version - Printing Tips



Last Updated: 2006-10-30	Top of Page	Important Notices