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A Latin American Perspective
Carlos Murillo, Director of Studies, International Center for Political Economy in San Jose, Costa Rica and former trade official from the government of Costa Rica, shared a developing country perspective of the FTAA process to date. He opened his remarks by noting that in Latin American, mixed feelings exist about the FTAA and ongoing processes of economic integration. For, though Latin American countries have worked to understand trade liberalization and to implement changes over the last two decades- for example by lowering tariffs and signing over 20 Free Trade Agreements - most still have fragile democracies and economies. Nonetheless, Mr. Murillo stressed the importance of how Latin American countries have demonstrated a commitment to developing their capacity to effectively participate in the demanding FTAA process.
Mr. Murillo then reflected upon five issues central to the FTAA and Latin American countries. He noted that the substantial agricultural subsidies continued by the U.S. Farm Bill have raised concerns and frustration in Latin America, putting the region in a defensive position regarding agriculture and threatening to sour the overall tone of negotiations. Moreover, the Quito Ministerial failed to provide a clear mandate for negotiation on trade and environment issues, which according to Mr. Murillo ultimately must be addressed by the FTAA. If sufficient time to consider the environment is not provided for, there is a risk that Latin American constituencies will view environmental concerns as primarily U.S. impositions. NGOs and other members of civil society are especially interested in how we can learn today from the experience of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Regarding civil society participation, Mr. Murillo asserted that governments need to better channel civil society energies related to the FTAA in a constructive way, including by creating a space for more moderate voices to be heard. He observed that one of the roles of the FTAA process is to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in the hemisphere. Similarly, Mr. Murillo pointed to the mandate for trade capacity building embodied in the Hemispheric Cooperation Program (HCP) as a good sign, because the HCP acknowledges that differences exist among FTAA countries, is intended to help ease often difficult transitions to FTA compliance, and aims to expand the benefits of trade, including by working toward greater equity. Finally, in his comments on the political economy of FTAA negotiations, Mr. Murillo stated that changes in government in Latin America - especially the election of Lula in Brazil - may be viewed as a positive development, for FTAA negotiations will require a balance of viewpoints to produce a sustainable agreement. He also emphasized that the U.S. will play an important role in shaping the FTAA process through the outcome of its current trade negotiations with Chile and Central America, and because the next FTAA Ministerial will be held in Miami.
Related Resources
John Audley, Senior Associate and Director of the Trade, Equity, and Development project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted that the FTAA documents referred to by Mr. Murillo are available online. The Ministerial Declaration, which provides negotiating instructions to trade ministers, is available on the official homepage of the FTAA and on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) FTAA resources page. The Hemispheric Cooperation Program is also available as Annex III on the USTR site. A civil society statement on trade and environment - which resulted from workshops working "Toward Civil Society Participation in the Americas" - is linked here from the homepage of the Carnegie Endowment's Trade, Equity, and Development project. Carnegie's Trade, Equity, and Development paper series provides another forum for the articulation of different viewpoints on issues related to trade and sustainable development.
Environment's Role in U.S. Trade Policy: the FTAA and Trade Promotion Authority
Dr. Audley then turned to explore how the FTAA negotiations relate to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which both gives the Bush administration "fast track" negotiating authority and contains certain environmental instructions. He explained that TPA provides Congress with opportunities to address environmental issues in U.S. trade negotiations, as detailed in his paper "Environment's New Role in U.S. Trade Policy."
Dr. Audley provided a number of concrete recommendations for Congress. First, he advised that the Congressional Oversight Group (COG) be given access to trade negotiations and the interagency process. As recommended in a recent GAO report, Congress similarly would be well served by more regular interaction with the trade policy private sector advisory committee system. Dr. Audley further suggested that in light of broader TPA instructions, the COG membership should be revisited to include Members who have an expertise in environmental policy.
With regard to participation and transparency in the FTAA process, Dr. Audley stressed the need to hold Congressional hearings to (1) give members of the public the opportunity to share their views, (2) parse out language in the Draft FTAA Declaration, which was written prior to the passage of TPA, and (3) demonstrate good governance. He also advised Congress to ensure that the negotiation of standardized language within FTAA working groups takes place in a transparent fashion, thus enabling Congressional oversight and public involvement.
Finally, Dr. Audley highlighted the need to better coordinate trade-related technical assistance and capacity building in a manner that responds to the needs of recipient countries, minimizes duplication of donor efforts, and builds upon existing capacity. He emphasized the importance of understanding the Hemispheric Cooperation Program, including its scope and relation to the final FTAA agreement.
Discussion
In the discussion that followed their comments, Carlos Murillo and John
Audley both affirmed their belief that positive results could be realized
through committed efforts to balance trade and non-trade interests in the FTAA
process. As part of the effort to develop policies that promote both trade and
sustainable development, Members of the U.S. Congress must work to
operationalize TPA's environmental provisions and to support the expansion of
relevant debates to genuinely include developing country perspectives.
Summary by Vanessa Ulmer, Junior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace