The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

With respect to the negotiating group on market access, the FTAA negotiations should strive for the earliest possible removal of all tariffs, quotas, and other barriers to trade. Negotiators can pursue various procedures toward this end, including the immediate removal of low tariffs, the adoption of ceiling rates from which progressive reductions can be made, and the establishment of sectoral arrangements, where appropriate. We consider market access to be one of the most important components of any future free-trade agreement.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• Each FTAA country should eliminate a high proportion of its tariffs within five years. The negotiators should also consider measures by which FTAA countries might agree to early elimination of tariffs in particular industry sectors.
   

• In addition, the FTAA countries should agree to eliminate all tariffs below 5% during the 2002 FTAA Trade Ministerial.
   

• The FTAA countries should take steps to make the sanitary and phytosanitary health certification process more transparent and efficient, including publishing regulations and explanations of the certification process in English, Portuguese and Spanish on the Internet and creating mechanisms that allow companies track the progress of their certification requests online.
   

• The FTAA countries should establish a system (such as surety, satisfactory guarantee, bond, or other appropriate instrument) that enables the eligible importer or agent to obtain the goods (not posing environment, health or safety threats) prior to the completion of administrative requirements and payment of duties, taxes or fees.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require each FTAA country to grant “national treatment” to goods of any other FTAA country in accordance with Article III of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). This means that FTAA countries must treat imported goods no less favorably than they treat like domestic goods in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their sale, purchase, transportation and use.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should bar FTAA countries from increasing existing tariffs or adopting new duties on FTAA goods. Specifically, the FTAA countries should agree to set January 2002 tariff levels as ceiling rates that can not be exceeded during the course of the FTAA negotiations. The FTAA Agreement should also oblige FTAA countries to progressively eliminate, according to a schedule attached to the FTAA Agreement, tariffs and other fees or charges they impose which are not related to an import service.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should eliminate the need for consular transactions for FTAA goods, including related fees. Consular transactions are requirements that customs documents accompanying goods of one country intended for export to another must first be certified by the consul of the importing country.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should prohibit export and import price requirements, import licensing conditioned on the fulfillment of a performance requirement, and voluntary export restraints not allowed under the WTO.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should eliminate discriminatory export taxes and, consistent with Article VIII of the GATT 1994, ensure that all fees and charges imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered and do not represent an indirect protection to domestic products or a taxation of imports or exports.
   

• Each FTAA country should be required to notify all other FTAA countries of all existing import licensing procedures and fees imposed in connection with importation and exportation. Thereafter, they must notify any new procedures or fees and changes to existing procedures or fees within 60 days of publication.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should avoid using complicated or ill-defined value tests as the basis for determining origin, in order to minimize burdens and uncertainties for traders. Value tests, which confer origin on the basis of the percent value added in a country (or group of countries if the FTAA Agreement were to allow accumulation), can be simple in concept, but difficult for governments and businesses to apply.
   

• FTAA countries should accept one standard, one test, third party certification or supplier’s declaration of conformity accepted everywhere, at the customer’s choice.

• Each FTAA country should provide electronically to the other FTAA countries’ standards inquiry points the full text of draft technical regulations at the time that the country sends notification of such measures to the WTO pursuant to the TBT and SPS Agreements.
   

• The FTAA countries should establish control and release systems (such as through a surety or other appropriate instrument) that enable the importer or agent to obtain the goods (not posing environment, health, or safety threats) prior to the completion of administrative requirements and payment of duties, taxes, and fees.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

Agricultural trade is a major component of international trade and must be treated as all other goods in the FTAA. Primary goals in the FTAA should include the removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in agricultural products, clear rules on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, and the elimination of all subsidies on exports and domestic production. One measure that negotiators can take in advance of the FTAA’s conclusion is to declare the hemisphere a subsidy-free zone, with all countries in the region pledging to neither extend subsidies on their own exports, nor to admit subsidized imports from outside the region.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA countries should eliminate agricultural export subsidies (as defined in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture) in the region and ban subsidized imports from outside of the region during the 2002 FTAA Trade Ministerial.
   

• The FTAA countries should implement measures to make the sanitary and phytosanitary health certification process more transparent and efficient, including publishing regulations and explanations of the certification process in English, Portuguese and Spanish on the Internet and other means, as well as creating mechanisms that allow companies to track the progress of their certification requests online and by other means.
   

• The FTAA countries should only apply sanitary and phytosanitary measures to provide the appropriate level of protection for human, animal and plant life or health. When applied, said measures should be based on scientific principles and should not be maintained without sufficient scientific evidence.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

International trade in services is a rapidly growing element of total trade. Beyond the necessary market access issues that negotiators face, they will need to provide for simplified business travel procedures. Other key elements for services trade include clear professional qualification requirements, and technical standards and licensing requirements based on objective criteria, such as professional competence. Negotiators should also provide for transparency in rule making, with opportunity for public comment on proposed rules, and harmonization or mutual recognition of professional standards.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA countries should negotiate liberalization according to a top-down (“negative list”) approach, whereby all sectors are liberalized except where a particular FTAA country negotiates a reservation for a particular sector or measure.
   

• The principles of most-favored nation (MFN) treatment and national treatment should be the rule for the FTAA Agreement’s provisions related to all service sectors and service suppliers. MFN treatment means treatment that is no less favorable than the treatment a Party to the FTAA Agreement provides, in like circumstances, to service suppliers of another country, whether or not that country is a Party to the FTAA Agreement. National treatment would mean treatment that is no less favorable than the treatment an FTAA country provides, in like circumstances, to its own service suppliers.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should provide for an obligation for an FTAA Party to: 1) remove non-discriminatory quantitative restrictions; 2) guarantee access to and use to publicly-provided telecommunications networks; and 3) not to impose local presence requirements (for example, a representative office or any form of company) in its territory as a condition for the cross-border provision of a service.
   

• With respect to the proposal to include labor standards in the text of the FTAA - a subject discussed in the services negotiating group - we wish to register our opposition. Nearly all economists agree that free trade raises incomes, and higher incomes lead in turn to improvements in labor standards. Efforts to block trade liberalization in the interest of promoting workers’ rights fly in the face of these facts. All too often, calls for trade-linked mechanisms to enforce labor standards are simply protectionism by another name. In fact, advocates of labor rights often seek to restrain trade in the very sectors where Latin America’s economies are at their most competitive. Thus, while we support efforts to improve working conditions and ensure workers’ rights, it is not appropriate to address this issue in the text of a trade agreement.

• The FTAA countries should encourage the use of the WTO Guidelines for Mutual Recognition Agreements in Accounting by responsible authorities within the Western Hemisphere for the development of sector-specific agreements on mutual recognition of equivalency of licensing and qualification requirements for professions (e.g., architecture, engineering, and accountancy), where appropriate.
   

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to ensure that laws, regulations, and procedures affecting trade in services are promptly published or otherwise made available to the private sector, with appropriate opportunity for advance comment by interested parties.
   

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to ensure transparent and timely authorization procedures, where authorization is required to supply a service.
   

• The FTAA countries should agree during the 2002 FTAA Trade Ministerial to provide business visa treatment on a most-favored nation basis to all FTAA countries. This would include implementing simplified procedures for temporary entry of business people (including facilitating procedures for business visas), establishing multiple entry visas as the norm and eliminating special requirements for those providing technical assistance.
   

• The FTAA countries should indicate implementation dates for each of two phases of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for conformity assessment of telecommunication equipment.
   

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to adhere to the WTO Basic Telecommunications Reference Paper, in order to elevate commitments among all 34 FTAA countries and foster effective implementation of the pro-competitive regulatory principles set forth in the WTO agreement.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to the transfer of technology, which in turn promotes economic development. We urge that the FTAA set new standards for intellectual property protection beyond those set in existing multilateral or regional agreements.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA countries should continue to strengthen intellectual property rights protection, including through implementation and enforcement of the World Trade Organization (WTO)/Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, and supporting measures to reduce piracy and counterfeiting.
   

• All FTAA countries should become parties to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
   

• FTAA countries should abide by the WIPO’s 1999 “Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks.”
   

• The FTAA countries should only allow for compulsory licensing of patented products or processes in compliance with the stipulations outlined in Article 31 of the TRIPS agreement and Article 5A(4) of the Paris Convention.
   

• The FTAA countries should protect against unfair commercial use of any undisclosed test data received as part of an application to market a specific new pharmaceutical or chemical product.
   

• The FTAA countries should grant pharmaceutical patent holders an extension on the terms of their patents to compensate for any unreasonable delay in obtaining marketing approval for their products.
   

• The FTAA countries should notify pharmaceutical patent holders of the identity of any company that is seeking approval to market a generic version of their patented invention while the patent is in effect.
   

• Under the FTAA Agreement, intellectual property holders seeking compensation for infringement should be able to receive compensation for any harm suffered, based on the retail or other value the right holders have set for their products or works, and also recover profits the infringers made.
   

• Under the FTAA Agreement, government agencies should have authority to seize suspected pirated and counterfeit goods, the equipment used to make or transmit them, and documentary evidence. Also, government agencies should be empowered to take criminal action against piracy and counterfeiting without waiting for a formal complaint by a private party or right holder. Maximum criminal fines should be high enough to deter and remove the incentive for infringements.

• The FTAA countries should adopt and implement measures to reduce piracy and counterfeiting in the Hemisphere, within each country and at its borders, including measures along these lines:

• Urgently create a central plan and central coordination for anti-piracy efforts;

• Improve judiciary performance through training and orientation aimed at deterring intellectual property crimes and infringement; and

• Improve intellectual property legislation with relevant sanctions and speedier processes.

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to adhere to and implement existing multilateral agreements, including the Brussels Convention, Berne Convention, Paris Convention, Budapest Treaty, Patent Cooperation Treaty, Trademark Law Treaty, and Madrid Protocol on the International Registration of Marks.
   

• The FTAA countries should take steps to avoid unnecessary duplication in patent examination systems in the region, e.g., through exchanging databases and confirmation of patents.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

With respect to the negotiating group on subsidies, antidumping and countervailing duties, the FTAA should eliminate trade-distorting subsidies within the region. It also should assure that antidumping and countervailing duty regulations conform to agreed standards, that they are clear and transparent, and that all parties to enforcement actions have adequate opportunity to present their views. National authorities should provide for judicial review in cases where administrative officials are alleged to have departed from standards in law and regulation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

The FTAA should mandate that member countries apply strong national competition policies, to promote cooperation among national competition authorities and to avoid activities that encourage or tolerate private anti-competitive behavior, such as cartels.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measure:

• Rules on official monopolies and state enterprises should be included in the text of the FTAA Agreement and should ensure that when the state participates in commercial activities, its FTAA trading partners are not subject to discrimination.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

The FTAA should eliminate trade-distorting rules affecting cross-border investment within the region. Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA chapter on investment should afford investors from an FTAA country, when they seek to initiate investment into the territory of another FTAA country and throughout the life of that investment, the better of national treatment or most favored nation (MFN) treatment when the investors are in like circumstances.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should endorse classic expropriation disciplines (i.e., that expropriations must be for a public purpose, nondiscriminatory, in accordance with due process of law, and accompanied by payment of prompt, adequate, and effective compensation).
   

• The FTAA Agreement should provide nationals of one Party with the right to enter and temporarily stay in the territory of another Party for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, advising or providing other essential services to an investment. It should also give investors the right to hire their top managerial personnel without regard to nationality.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should guarantee investors the right to transfer funds into and out of the FTAA host country without delay using a market rate of exchange. This covers all transfers related to an investment, including interest, proceeds from liquidation, repatriated profits and infusions of additional financial resources after the initial investment has been made.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should prohibit mandatory performance requirements to incorporate specified levels of local content; purchase or accord preference to domestically produced goods; restrict sales of goods or services within the host Party’s territory; balance exports and imports; export at specified levels; transfer technology; or act as the exclusive supplier of goods or services to a particular region or the world market.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should support the right of investors to submit an investment dispute with an FTAA government to international arbitration as long as the provisions governing the arbitration mechanism are properly framed.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should include provisions on transparency to make laws, regulations and administrative practices publicly available; to the extent practicable, to provide advance notice and comment periods for proposed laws, regulations and administrative practices; and to promptly respond to requests for information.
   

• With respect to the proposal to include environmental standards in the text of the FTAA - a subject discussed in the investment negotiating group - we wish to register our opposition. Nearly all economists agree that free trade raises incomes, and higher incomes lead in turn to improvements in environmental standards. Efforts to block trade liberalization in the interest of promoting environmental protection fly in the face of these facts. All too often, calls for trade-linked mechanisms to enforce environmental standards are simply protectionism by another name. In fact, advocates of trade-linked mechanisms to enforce environmental protection often seek to restrain trade in the very sectors where Latin America’s economies are at their most competitive. While we support efforts to improve environmental protection, it is not appropriate to address this issue in the text of a trade agreement.

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to accede to arbitral conventions, including the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention) and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention).
   

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to accede to the OAS Inter-American Convention Against Corruption and deposit instruments of ratification with the OAS.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

The FTAA should remove domestic preferences and requirements in government procurement with limited exceptions (e.g., for sensitive sectors and national security), because such preferences reduce the ability of governments to make the most efficient use of fiscal resources. Provisions of the agreement should also address issues of transparency, openness, and due process in government procurement.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA Agreement should include rules to ensure non-discriminatory treatment for suppliers of goods and services from any FTAA country bidding on government procurement contracts in any other member country.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should prohibit of the use of offsets in the qualification of suppliers, the evaluation of tenders and the award of contracts.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require the publication of laws, regulations, judicial decisions and other measures specifically governing government procurement.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require that tendering procedures be transparent, open and competitive. In addition, it should include clear and predictable rules for choosing different procurement methods and flexibility for government purchasers to take full advantage of electronic communications and emerging technologies.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require advance public notice of procurement opportunities with enough information to allow suppliers to assess their interest in participating.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should include rules to limit qualification requirements to factors essential to determining the suppliers’ ability to fulfill the terms of the contract.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should include rules to ensure that tender documentation provides clear and complete descriptions of the specifications and other requirements for the contract, as well as the criteria used to evaluate tenders.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should include rules to ensure that contracts are awarded to the supplier whose tender best fulfills the requirements set out in the tender documents. Contracts should not be awarded to suppliers that do not meet the essential requirements in the tender document.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require that government procurement entities promptly inform all suppliers that submitted tenders of the contract award decision, as well as disseminate this information in an electronic or paper medium widely accessible to the public.
   

• The FTAA governments should provide timely and effective procedures allowing suppliers to challenge alleged breaches of the FTAA government procurement chapter and provide for prompt interim measures to preserve the commercial opportunity offered by the covered contract.

• The FTAA countries should adopt and implement measures to ensure transparency and due process in government procurement procedures. The measures to be addressed should include the following elements:

• The FTAA countries should give consideration to the use of the “model” procurement laws developed by UNCITRAL or other intergovernmental bodies.
   

• The FTAA countries should eliminate the requirement for “consularization” of documentation and similar requirements for bid submissions to government entities.
   

• The FTAA countries should make available via the Internet information on government procurement, encompassing: specification, tenders, evaluation criteria, standards, and regulations. The FTAA countries should also establish appropriate access that lists and links the government procurement sites of each country. These would lead to development of a comprehensive database detailing procurement activity.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

To build confidence in the integrity of the FTAA, the agreement should establish a dispute settlement mechanism. There is now a considerable body of experience with the dispute resolution arrangements in the WTO and certain regional agreements that can guide negotiators in design of a mechanism suitable for the FTAA.

Specifically we recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following measures:

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to accede to arbitral conventions including the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention) and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention).
   

• The FTAA Agreement should encourage and facilitate the use of arbitration and other means of alternative dispute resolution for the settlement of private commercial disputes.
   

• The FTAA Agreement should require governments to provide appropriate procedures and remove legal and other obstacles to ensure the observance of agreements to arbitrate and for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), and the U.S. Section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council welcome this opportunity to present our views on the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). We strongly support free trade in the hemisphere, and this represents the third occasion on which we have submitted recommendations to the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society.

The Internet and information technology are key factors in the process of hemispheric integration. We recommend that the governments in the hemisphere agree during the Quito FTAA Ministerial to take the following actions to build a strong foundation for the final FTAA Agreement, including endorsing the following Business Facilitation proposals:

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to ensure the effective protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data and transborder data flows on global information networks while allowing the free flow of information, and foster cooperative approaches to privacy protection among governments, consumers, and business, which should recognize a variety of national approaches, including effective self-regulation, based on internationally-accepted principles of fair information practices.
   

• The FTAA countries should take the necessary steps to recognize electronic records and signatures based on the relevant enabling principles contained in the model law on electronic commerce completed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and take steps to ensure that private arrangements for authenticating transactions are recognized and enforced, that parties are permitted to introduce evidence of these arrangements in court, and that authentication service providers and users from other countries are treated in a non-discriminatory manner.
   

• The FTAA countries should agree not to tax online transactions at rates higher than those levied on non-online transactions.