EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Acting through the Comisión ALCA/PERÚ, Peru’s private sector takes this opportunity to submit for consideration by the Committee of Government Representatives on Participation by Civil Society, our views concerning the future of the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Our presentation is the result of an analysis of the advances achieved by the Negotiating Groups, and reflects the experience gained and the contributions offered by the trade associations and other sectors of Peruvian civil society.

Peru and other countries in Latin America are participating simultaneously in various subregional integration agreements within and outside our own Hemisphere, forming a complex network of relationships which are not always mutually compatible.

The present international economic environment without question recognizes the marketplace as the engine of development and as the clear choice for economic policy. This has eased the way for the negotiations and, with the hope of liberalizing trade, has led to the results achieved under the WTO, the furtherance of subregional agreements, the signing of bilateral trade agreements and, in many cases, the adoption of unilateral measures.

Nor has this situation gone unnoticed in our Hemisphere. All of the countries taking part in the hemispheric initiative, to one degree or another have formally recognized the market economy model in their Constitutions. It is for this reason that our competition policy, and the legislation in which it is expressed, constitute the pillars on which we are attempting to erect a market free of obstacles and distortions, for trade in goods and services alike.

The success of this process will depend primarily on implementation of a system of standards and disciplines, such as rules of origin, with precise objectives, consistent qualifying criteria and perfectly transparent procedures for their administration.

It is also necessary to devise a suitable initiative for managing any disputes that arise. This initiative must be based on universal consensus among the member countries, as well as the needs of the Hemisphere’s operators.

In order to promote economic development among the less developed member countries, Peru’s private sector considers it vital that a framework be established which favors investment in the region.

It is our hope that the negotiations will take into account the views of the private sector, and to this end we attach our proposals for your consideration.