1. The Sixteenth Meeting of the Negotiating Group on Dispute Settlement (NGDS) was held in Panama from June 10-12, 2002. Representatives from twenty-two (22) countries of the Hemisphere were in attendance: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

2. The adopted agenda for the meeting is attached as annex.

3. All the items on the agenda were considered during the meeting except other business. The NGDS advanced in its work of eliminating brackets and consolidating text in the draft chapter on dispute settlement to the maximum extent possible.

4. Information has been provided by eighteen (18) countries on their respective national laws on arbitration and/or institutions, which is posted on the FTAA web page on private commercial arbitration at http://www.ftaa-alca.org/busfac/canale.asp Also posted is the status of signatories and ratifying states to the international conventions governing private commercial arbitration.

5. The Group took note of recent contributions received from civil society in response to the third open invitation to civil society. The Group agreed to refer to these contributions at its next (seventeenth) meeting.

6. The next meeting of the NGDS has been scheduled for July 15-17, 2002.
 

FTAA - NEGOTIATING GROUP ON DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

1. Approval of the agenda

2. Finalization of submission to the Technical Committee on Institutional Issues

3. Finalization of second draft consolidated text – elimination of brackets to the maximum extent possible

4. Preparation of draft Report of the NGDS to the Trade Negotiations Committee

5. Relationship with other FTAA entities

6. Discussion on how to design mechanisms to facilitate and promote the use of arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution methods

7. Other