Public
FTAA.ngcp/com/17
July 12, 2002

Original: Spanish
Translation: FTAA Secretariat

FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON COMPETITION POLICY

Seventeenth Meeting

Panama, July 11-12, 2002

PRESS COMMUNIQUÉ
 

1. The Seventeenth Meeting of the Negotiating Group on Competition Policy (NGCP) was held in Panama from 11 to 12 July 2002. In attendance were representatives from the following 23 countries in the hemisphere:  
    

   Argentina		Haiti
   Bahamas		Jamaica
   Bolivia		Mexico
   Brazil		Panama
   Canada		Paraguay
   Chile		Peru
   Colombia		St. Kitts & Nevis
   Costa Rica		Trinidad and Tobago
   Dominican Republic		United States
   Ecuador		Uruguay
   El Salvador		Venezuela
   Guatemala

2. The deliberations took place in accordance with the approved agenda. The following is a list of some of the items that were discussed:
   
   

   • Open exchange of ideas on the general issues and aspects associated with the Draft Chapter on Competition Policy
     
     
   • Review of the terms of reference and bibliography presented by the Tripartite Committee, for a subsequent study on Special and Differential Treatment.
     
     
   • Time was set aside to review the civil society contributions that the delegations believed the Group should evaluate.
     
     
   • The Group drafted a Work Plan to take them through to July 2003; it will be submitted to the TNC for consideration.
     
     
   • Review of the Report to the TNC on the work carried out by the Group from May 2001 to July 2002 on all the mandates set out in the Buenos Aires Ministerial Declaration. The Group will attach to the Report the draft of the Chapter on Competition Policy, which reflects their concerted efforts to eliminate increasingly greater numbers of brackets.