Established under Chapter XVIII of the Charter, the specialized conferences are intergovernmental meetings to deal with specific technical matters or to develop specific aspects of inter-American cooperation. They are held when either the General Assembly or the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs so decides, either on its own initiative or at the request of one of the Councils or specialized organizations.

Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor

The following meetings were held in preparation for the Tenth Conference: two meetings of the Permanent Technical Committee on Labor Matters (COTPAL), two meetings of the Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE), and one meeting of the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Matters (CEATAL). At these meetings, the agenda for the Conference and the draft Declaration of Buenos Aires were revised and recommendations made on labor policy and action at the inter-American and national levels.

The Tenth Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor was held October 1-3, 1995, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the participation of 21 ministers and undersecretaries of labor. It approved a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action (Declaration of Buenos Aires) and a resolution on strengthening the inter-American labor system. To implement the Plan of Action, the ministers established four working groups with specific tasks to be carried out in 1996: i) economic integration and its effects on employment and labor migrations (coordinating country - Argentina); ii) social dialogue and collective bargaining (coordinating countries - Colombia and Bolivia); iii) modernization of labor ministries and information on labor markets (coordinating countries - Panama and United States); iv) labor force of the future: reconversion of production and vocational training. In furtherance of the objectives of the Declaration of Buenos Aires, the ministers instructed COTPAL to study the feasibility of creating an institute capable of attracting funding and carrying out the activities entrusted to it by the working groups. These activities would be conducted with the active participation of representatives from labor and management.

The Working Group on Economic Integration and Its Effects on Employment and Labor Migrations met in November 1995 in Washington, D.C., to prepare a first draft of the document on labor issues to be included in trade agreements. The document will be presented by the ministers of labor at the next meeting of the ministers of trade.

In compliance with a resolution of the Ninth Conference, a proposed Inter-American Youth Training and Employment Program was prepared in conjunction with the Inter-American Research and Documentation Center on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR) and the International Labor Organization. In order to start implementation of this proposal, three subregional seminars were held (Central America, Caribbean, and Andean Group) to analyze national policies in the area, to develop profiles of externally-funded cooperation projects, and to seek horizontal cooperation mechanisms. These seminars received technical cooperation from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

Inter-American Statistical Conference

With technical support from the General Secretariat, the organs of the Inter-American Statistical Conference (CIE) continued to promote statistical support for priority areas indicated by the Organization and strengthened the coordination mechanisms with United Nations agencies and other regional and subregional agencies.

The CIE Working Group on Social and Poverty Indicators prepared a subregional program for implementation of the project "System of Social and Poverty Indicators," which was studied at the Meeting of Official Users and Producers of Social Indicators from the Central American Isthmus, held in September in San José, Costa Rica. The meeting was sponsored by the Central American Social Integration Secretariat (SISCA) with the aim of determining a basic set of social indicators, which is being submitted to the Summit of Presidents for consideration, subsequent final adjustments, and launching of a work program.

The working groups appointed by the XI CIE on: measurement of the informal sector (coordinated by Peru); environmental statistics (coordinated by Mexico); services statistics (coordinated by Uruguay); trade, integration, and competitiveness (coordinated by Argentina); drug statistics (coordinated by Peru); and statistical training (coordinated by Chile) have continued to make progress in the preparation of regional programs in their respective areas.

The Permanent Executive Committee of CIE (COM/CIE) met twice, April 27-28 and November 6-7, at the headquarters of the OAS General Secretariat. At these meetings, the Committee followed up on the work of the CIE working groups and discussed matters relating to the holding of the XII Session of CIE and the Second OAS-ECLAC Joint Meeting on Statistics, the dates of which would be coordinated.

As instructed by COM/CIE, the Technical Secretariat of CIE drafted a working document on statistics and strengthening of democratic processes, which discusses, among other issues, the support that this discipline and CIE itself can provide for the proposed activities of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) of the OAS General Secretariat.

Notable coordination activities with other international organizations, in addition to the joint action with ECLAC in this area, include the May meeting of the FAO-OAS/CIE-IICA Working Group on Agricultural Statistics to finalize the organization and funding of the First Regional Meeting sponsored by this Group. This meeting was held at IICA headquarters in Coronado, Costa Rica, December 4-6, 1995. It was attended by 22 countries and discussed technical aspects of agricultural censuses and surveys, use of records, marketing of agricultural products, agricultural activity and the environment, rural poverty, international technical cooperation, the AGRIFORO information system, and cooperation supply and demand.

Similarly, as part of the policy of coordinating OAS and CARICOM activities and, at the initiative of the CARICOM secretariat, the CIE technical secretariat is providing technical assistance in the preparation of an OAS-CARICOM cooperation program in the area of statistics.

Inter-American Port and Harbor Conference

The XVII Meeting of the Permanent Technical Committee on Ports was held in St. Michael, Barbados, June 25-27, 1995. The Committee is the executive body of the Inter-American Port and Harbor Conference. Participating were delegations from Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela, as well as representatives from various international organizations and institutions. The Committee approved 17 resolutions, notably: studies by the permanent technical committees on port administration and operations, to be presented to the IX Inter-American Port and Harbor Conference; job retraining; EDI; economic integration agreements; port modernization and privatization; and fellowship regulations.

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