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International Treaties |
Background documents on the FTAA process Cartagena Trade Ministerial and Business Forum Belo Horizonte Trade Ministerial and Business Forum ALADI - Latin America Integration Association (LAIA in English) CARICOM - Caribbean Community and Common Market CACM - Central American Common Market G3 - Group of Three MERCOSUR - Southern Common Market NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement WTO/GATT - World Trade Organization / General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Andean Community - Resolutions of the General Secretariat and Rulings of the Court of Justice
GATT - Adopted Panel Reports Within the Framework of GATT 1947 (1948 - 1994)
NAFTA - Arbitral and Binational Panel Reviews
WTO - Adopted Panel Reports and Appellate Body Reports (1996 - 1997)
Background documents on the FTAA Process
Cartagena Trade Ministerial:
The Second Business Forum of the Americas
Belo Horizonte Trade Ministerial:
The Third Business Forum of the Americas
San Jose Trade Ministerial:
The Fourth Business Forum of the Americas
Andean Community Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Central American Common Market (CACM) Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela (G3) Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR)
World Trade Organization/General Agreement on Tariffs Trade (WTO/GATT)
WHAT THE UN DOES FOR DEVELOPMENT
Lasting world peace can be realized only through social and economic development for all peoples of the world. This link
is recognized by the Charter, which assigns to the UN, as one of its main functions, the promotion of higher standards of living, full employment and economic and social progress. Thus a major part of the work of the UNsystem of organizations - measured in terms of budget and personnel involved - goes into numerous programmes aimed at achieving a better life for people everywhere.
Three fourths of the world's people live in developing countries, and 1.3 billion are living in abject poverty. While the
world's 24 richest countries taken together have a per capita income of $23,420, the 49 poorest countries have a per capita income of $360 - a ratio of 65 to 1. This gap has been growing wider in recent years, and its closing is one of the
fundamental challenges facing the world today.
The General Assembly has stressed the need to reshape international economic relations so developing countries can take their just place in the world economy. In a series of ten-year International Development Strategies adopted since 1961, the Assembly has recommended measures to reduce the gap between rich and poor countries.
A round of world conferences has promoted practical ways of solving global problems, by focusing on environment and
development (1992), human rights (1993), population and development (1994), social development (1995), the advancement of women (1995), human settlements (1996) and food security (1996). The UN is now working with Member
States to put into practice the decisions taken at these conferences.
Assistance for development
Working directly under the General Assembly are a number of programmes furthering the UN's economic and social
mandate.
In the forefront of efforts to bring about social and economic progress is the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The UN's largest multilateral provider of grants for sustainable human development, it works in 174 countries and territories, to facilitate technical cooperation.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the lead UN organization working for the long-term survival, protection and
development of children. Working in some 150 countries, UNICEF's programmes focus on immunization, primary health
care, nutrition and basic education.
Many other UN programmes work for development, in partnership with Governments and non-governmental organizations. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) works to encourage sound environmental practices everywhere.
The World Food Programme is the world's largest international food aid organization for both emergency relief and as part of development programmes. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is the largest international provider of population assistance to developing countries. The UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) works to assist over 600 million people living in health-threatening housing conditions. The UN Conference on Trade and Development promotes international trade, particularly by developing countries, seeking to increase their participation in the global economy.
The specialized agencies
Linked to the United Nations through special agreements, the separate, autonomous specialized agencies of the UNfamily set standards and guidelines, help formulate policies and provide technical assistance and other forms of practical help in virtually all areas of economic and social endeavour.
Coordinated actions
The Administrative Committee on Coordination, composed of the Secretary-General and the heads of the specialized
agencies and the IAEA, ensures full coordination between all branches of the UN system.
Increasingly, the UN system is pooling its efforts to tackle particularly complex problems that cut across individual areas of
expertise. For instance, the Joint Programme on AIDS pools together the expertise of six UN agencies and programmes to combat an epidemic that has struck over 20 million people worldwide. The UN System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa, a 10-year, $25-billion endeavour, brings virtually all points of the UN into a common programme that seeks to ensure basic education, health services and food security in that continent. The Global Environment Facility, a $2 billion fund administered by UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank, helps developing countries carry out environmental programmes.
What is the World Trade
Organization?
The WTO is the only international body dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart
are the
WTO agreements, the legal ground-rules for international commerce and for trade policy. The
agreements
have three main objectives: to help trade flow as freely as possible, to achieve further liberalization
gradually through negotiation, and to set up an impartial means of settling disputes.
Principles of the trading system
A number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all the WTO agreements. They are the
foundation of the multilateral trading system. They include: non-discrimination
("most-favoured-nation"
treatment and "national" treatment), freer trade, predictable policies, encouraging competition, and
extra
provisions for less developed countries.
The economic case for an open trading system based upon multilaterally agreed rules is simple
enough and
rests largely on commercial common sense. But it is also supported by evidence. Protectionism leads
to
bloated inefficient companies and can in the end lead to factory closures and job losses. One of the
WTOs
objectives is to reduce protectionism.
The WTO's roots: from Havana to Marrakesh
The WTO's creation in 1995 marked the biggest reform of international trade since 1948. During
those 47
years, international commerce had come under GATT which helped establish a prosperous
multilateral
trading system. But by the 1980s an overhaul was due.
The Uruguay Round brought about that overhaul. It was the largest trade negotiation ever. At times
the talks
seemed doomed to fail, but in the end, the Uruguay Round was successful. The task was so immense
that
some people wondered whether there would ever be another negotiation like it - was it the round to
end all
rounds?
WTO and GATT: are they the same?
No. The WTO is GATT plus a lot more. GATT (the institution) was small and provisional, and not
even
recognized in law as international organization. It has now been replaced by the World Trade
Organization.
GATT (the agreement) has been amended and incorporated into the new WTO Agreements. GATT
deals
only with trade in goods. The WTO Agreements now cover services and intellectual property as
well.
Index
General
Information
Welcome
Trade Unit
Glossary
FTAA Process
Trade
Agreements
Dispute Settlement
Trade Information by
OAS Member Country
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Other Sources
of Trade
Information
Multinational
Quantitative Data
Regional
Trade In Action
Trade Forum
GENERAL INFORMATION
FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA) PROCESS
Miami Summit of the Americas
December 1994
Denver, Colorado
June-July 1995
First Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial and Business Forum
Cartagena, Colombia
March 1996
Second Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial and Business Forum
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
May 1997
Third Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial and Business Forum
San Jose, Costa Rica
March 1998
Fourth Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial and Business Forum
Santiago Summit of the Americas
April 1998
TRADE AGREEMENTS: TEXTS AND FURTHER INFORMATION
(Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela)
Spanish
English
Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
(Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada,
Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago)
English
Spanish
English
English
Spanish
English
(Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua)
English
French
Spanish
English
Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
(Canada, Mexico, United States)
English
French
Spanish
English
Spanish
English
Spanish
Fourth Meeting of the NAFTA CommissionEnglish
Fifth Meeting of the NAFTA Comission English
(established under NAFTA Article 2001)English
French
(Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay)
English
Portuguese
Spanish
Spanish
Portuguese
Spanish
English
Portuguese
Spanish
Spanish
Portuguese/Spanish
Portuguese/Spanish
Portuguese
Portuguese
Portuguese
Portuguese
Spanish
English
(adopted on 20 May 1998)English
French
Spanish
(adopted on 13 December 1996)English
French
Spanish
(Singapore, 13 December 1996)English
French
Spanish
(Launch of the Uruguay Round of GATT Negotiations)English
Spanish
English
French
Spanish
English
Spanish
English
Spanish
English
Spanish
TRADE INFORMATION BY OAS MEMBER COUNTRY
Country
Trade Agreement
Further Information
Bilateral Investment Treaties
Antigua and
Barbuda
---
Argentina
Bahamas
---
Barbados
Belize
---
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Agreement on
Labour Cooperation
Agreement on
Environmental
Cooperation
Canada - Chile Free Trade Agreement Commission
Chile
Agreement on
Labour Cooperation
Agreement on
Environmental
Cooperation
Canada - Chile Free Trade Agreement Commission
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
Dominica
---
Dominican
Republic
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
---
Ecuador
El Salvador
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
Grenada
Guatemala
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
Guyana
---
Haiti
---
---
Honduras
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
---
Jamaica
Mexico
---
Nicaragua
Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement
---
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
St. Kitts
and Nevis
---
St. Lucia
---
St. Vincent and
the Grenadines
---
Suriname
---
---
Trinidad
and Tobago
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
(Reproduced With Permission)
(Reproduced With Permission)
(Reproduced With Permission)