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Public
FTAA.tci/com/11
June 12, 2003
Original: Spanish
Translation: FTAA Secretariat
FTAA - TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON INSTITUTIONAL
ISSUES
Eleventh Meeting
Puebla, Mexico, 29 and 30 May 2003
PRESS COMMUNIQUE
1. The Eleventh Meeting of the Technical Committee
on Institutional Issues (TCI) was held in Puebla, Mexico, on 29 and 30 May 2003,
under the chairmanship of Mr. Mario Matus, of Chile. In attendance were
representatives from the following 17 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and
Venezuela.
2. The approved agenda for the discussions is
attached hereto as an annex.
3. All the items on the agenda were covered. The TCI concentrated on reviewing
the draft versions of the documents referring to the design of the preliminary
general structure of the FTAA Agreement and of the template for the individual
chapters. The TCI also discussed the draft chapter on exceptions, transitional
provisions, and final provisions of the Agreement. The Tripartite Committee
presented a document listing the variables required to estimate the costs of the
future permanent FTAA Secretariat. The TCI, taking into consideration the
complexities associated with proposing scenarios, as outlined in this document,
opted to request that the Tripartite Committee draft, prior to the next meeting,
a table containing each country’s percentages for the four different modalities
used to calculate the financing quotas for a future Secretariat.
4. The next meeting of the TCI will be held in Puebla, Mexico, on 23, 24, and 25
June 2003.
FTAA - TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
Eleventh Meeting
Puebla, Mexico, 29 and 30 May 2003
AGENDA
1. Approval of the agenda
2. Architecture and structure of the Agreement
A. Discussion of the draft text on general and institutional issues of the
FTAA
• Article 5: Exceptions
TEMPORARY AND FINAL PROVISIONS
• Article 23: Annexes
• Article 24: Reservations
• Article 25: Amendments
• Article 26: Authentic Texts
• Article 27: Denunciation
• Article 28: Entry into Force
B. General Definitions
C. General Structure of the Agreement and Institutional Issues
D. Format of the chapters
3. Discussion of articles considered in previous meetings, particularly:
• Preamble to the FTAA Agreement
• General Articles of the FTAA Agreement
• Transparency
• Treatment of differences in the levels of development and size of the
economies
• Costs of implementation, institutional framework, and annexes
4. Relations to other FTAA entities and civil society contributions
• NGIN letters
• Civil society contributions
5. Other business
• “Compilation of proposed provisions (related to Transparency): notifications
and consultations”, document prepared by the Tripartite Committee
• New contributions
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