Free Trade Area of the Americas

The effort to unite the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade arrangement was initiated at the Summit of the Americas, which was held in December 1994 in Miami. The heads of state of 34 countries (Cuba was absent) agreed to construct a "Free Trade Area of the Americas" or FTAA and to complete negotiations for the agreement by 2005. The leaders also made a commitment to achieve substantial progress toward building the FTAA by 2000.

The FTAA structure is made up of three components:

• meetings of trade ministers of the Western Hemisphere, who have developed the overall work plan for the FTAA;
• 9 negotiating groups and 3 special committees; and
• the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) of vice-ministers of trade of the Western Hemisphere, who coordinate and guide the work of the negotiating groups and make policy recommendations to the trade ministers.

Formal negotiations leading towards a FTAA were launched in April 1998 at the Second Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. Negotiating groups began meeting in Miami in September/October 1998.

The nine Negotiating Groups are:

1. market access

2. investment
3. services
4. government procurement
5. dispute settlement
6. agriculture
7. intellectual property rights
8. subsidies, antidumping and countervailing duties
9. competition policy.

By early 2001 each negotiating group had assembled a first draft text of a chapter for the new agreement, composed mainly of the proposals put forward by the various countries or groups of countries. On November 1, 2002, the FTAA Trade Ministers released to the public the second draft text of the FTAA. The third draft FTAA Agreement was made public on November 21, 2003.

FTAA negotiations generally encompass all of those areas previously negotiated within the World Trade Organization and under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Brazil and the United States have acted as the co-chairs of the FTAA negotiations since November 2002, and will do so until the end of the negotiations.  Prior to this, Canada, Argentina and Ecuador each acted as Chairs of the FTAA process for an 18-month term.  Chairs and Vice-Chairs of each of the nine negotiating groups are also selected for 18-month periods, with the aim of ensuring geographic balance during each period of responsibility.

Negotiations of the FTAA were formally postponed in June 2004.  However, Canada continues to meet with Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) to negotiate improved market access in the areas of goods, services and investment, in the context of the FTAA negotiations.

Other Links:

• International Trade Canada’s FTAA
• Inter-America Development Bank
• Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Inter-Governmental Organizations

• Organization of American States

last updated December 2005