AG/RES. 1516 (XXVII-O/97)

TRADE AND INTEGRATION IN THE AMERICAS

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council on Integral Development on the implementation of AG/RES. 1430 (XXVI-O/96) (AG/doc.3527/97);

RECALLING:

Resolution AG/RES. 1430 (XXVI-O/96), "Trade and Integration in the Americas";

Resolution AG/RES. 1438 (XXVI-O/96), "Relationship Between the Special Committee on Trade and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development";

Resolution AG/RES. 1349 (XXV-O/95), "Inter-American Summits Management"; and

Resolution AG/RES. 1220 (XXIII-O/93), "Establishment of the Special Committee on Trade (CEC)," in which member states noted that the Organization of American States (OAS) is an appropriate hemispheric forum for dialogue on trade matters;

BEARING IN MIND the Declaration of Montrouis: A New Vision of the OAS, in which the General Assembly expressed support for the member states' efforts in the areas of economic integration and promotion of free trade in the region, in keeping with the objective of concluding negotiations on establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by the year 2005, as agreed to at the Summit of the Americas;

TAKING NOTE with satisfaction of the joint declaration adopted by the ministers responsible for trade at the Third Trade Ministerial Meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in which they reiterated their commitment to conclude negotiations on the FTAA by the year 2005, and acknowledged and expressed again their appreciation for the technical and logistical support provided to the working groups established within the framework of the FTAA by the Tripartite Committee, composed of the OAS, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;

CONSIDERING that economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access constitute one of the priorities established in the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001 and that the process of creating the FTAA is a fundamental element in this context; and

REAFFIRMING the commitment of the Organization of American States to support the process of free trade and economic integration in the Hemisphere and to reiterate the importance of the technical contribution of the General Secretariat and in particular the Trade Unit to this process,

RESOLVES:

1. To take note of the report of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) on the implementation of resolution AG/RES. 1430 (XXVI-O/96), "Trade and Integration in the Americas."

2. To request the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI to jointly examine the way in which the OAS responds to the concerns of member states on trade matters, particularly in the context of increasing trade and economic integration in the Hemisphere, and to instruct the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI, on the basis of the conclusions of this examination and for the purpose of clearly defining the future contribution of the OAS in this area, to take action in their respective areas of competence and to formulate, as appropriate, further recommendations to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session.

3. To reiterate that, in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 1220 (XXIII-O/93), the CEC "shall hold one regular meeting each year" and to recommend that the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) convoke a meeting of the CEC, either in Washington, D.C. or on the margins of an already scheduled trade vice-ministerial meeting, before the end of 1997, with a view to considering the way in which the OAS is addressing the issue of trade and, in particular, the roles of the CEC and its Advisory Group in light of the FTAA process.

4. To instruct the General Secretariat to provide assistance to individual member states, on request, as agreed to by the ministers responsible for trade in the Joint Declaration of Belo Horizonte.

5. To instruct CIDI to support projects, programs, and activities related to the priority area of economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access, in keeping with the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001.

6. To reiterate its support for the collaborative activities on trade and integration of the Tripartite Committee, and to recognize the contributions to those activities of other specialized regional, subregional, and multilateral organizations and of regional and subregional institutions.

7. To instruct the General Secretariat to continue providing, through the Trade Unit, analytical support and technical assistance and conducting related studies, as part of the Tripartite Committee process or as requested by the respective working groups established under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process, and to report on an ongoing basis to the Permanent Council, CEPCIDI, and the CEC on its activities in this area.

8. To instruct the General Secretariat to submit, by October 31, 1997, the 1998 annual program of activities of the Trade Unit to the CEC for its consideration and approval or, in the event the CEC does not meet, to CEPCIDI for approval ad referendum to the next regular meeting of CIDI.

9. To instruct the General Secretariat to continue providing quarterly written progress reports on the activities of the Trade Unit, including information on its level of budget execution, to the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI for their review.

10. To recognize the important achievements of the Foreign Trade Information System (SICE) and in particular the measures taken to broaden its trade and trade-related information and its client base and to support its continued operations, specifically the establishment of an official Internet home page for the FTAA process.

11. To instruct the General Secretariat to ensure coordination between the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development and the appropriate offices of the General Secretariat, particularly the Trade Unit, in their activities supporting the implementation of this resolution.

12. To direct that the mandates in the preceding paragraphs be executed within the allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources.

13. To request the Permanent Council and CEPCIDI to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.