[Federal Register: December 27, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 79231-79232]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27de02-176]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Notice of Issuance by the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil
Society of an Open and Ongoing Invitation for Public Comment
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is
providing notice that the Committee of Government Representatives on
the Participation of Civil Society (Civil Society Committee),
established by the 34 countries participating in the negotiations for
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), has issued an Open and
Ongoing Invitation for public comment on all aspects of the FTAA,
including: The second draft consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement,
released to the public on November 1, 2002; the ongoing FTAA
negotiations; and the FTAA process in general. Submissions in response
to the Invitation should be sent directly to the FTAA addresses
indicated below.
DATES: Public comment in response to the Open and Ongoing Invitation is
welcome by the FTAA Civil Society Committee on a continuing basis. For
submissions to be reflected in the Committee's Report to the FTAA
Ministers for their eighth meeting in Miami, Florida in the fourth
quarter of 2003, submissions must be received by the Chairperson of the
FTAA Civil Society Committee no later than May 1, 2003.
ADDRESSES: The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents
electronically. Submissions should be sent directly to the ``Chair of
the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of
Civil Society,'' at only one of the following addresses:
Submissions by electronic mail: soc@ftaa-alca.com.
Please note that submissions from civil society will be received at
the addresses below up to February 24, 2003. After this date, the
official FTAA Web site (http://www.ftaa-alca.org) will list the
corresponding addresses of the new headquarters of the FTAA
Administrative Secretariat in Puebla, Mexico.
Submissions by facsimile: (011) (507) 270-6993.
Via Postal Mail: c/o Secretaria del Area de Libre Comercio de Las
Americas (ALCA), Apartado Postal 89-10044, Zona 9, Cuidad de Panama,
Republica de Panama.
Via Private Messenger/Couriere Service: c/o Secretaria del Area de
Libre Comercio de Las Americas (ALCA), Hotel Caesar Park Panama, Via
Israel y Calle 77, San Francisco, Cuidad de Panama, Republica de
Panama.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The official version of the Open and
Ongoing Invitation for public comment and a cover sheet identifying
information to be included with submissions to the Civil Society
Committee are available on the USTR Web site (http://www.ustr.gov) and
the official FTAA Web site (http://www.ftaa-alca.org). The cover sheet
is reproduced below. The USTR and FTAA Web sites also contain
background information regarding the FTAA negotiations, including the
second draft consolidated texts of the FTAA agreement, the Civil
Society Committee's Report of November 2002 to the FTAA Trade
Ministers, and the Quito Ministerial Declaration. Any questions
concerning the Open and Ongoing Invitation should be addressed to
Christina Sevilla, Director, USTR's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
and Public Liaison, at (202) 395-6120. Questions regarding the FTAA
negotiations should be addressed to the agency's Office of the Americas
at (202) 395-5190.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil
Society
At the 1998 FTAA Ministerial meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, the
hemishpere's trade Ministers jointly recognized and welcomed the
interests and concerns expressed by a broad spectrum of interested non-
governmental parties in the hemisphere, and encouraged these and other
parties to provide their views on trade matters related to the FTAA
negotiations. In order to facilitate this process, the Ministers agreed
to establish the FTAA Civil Society Committee. Since its first meeting
in October 1998, the Committee has approved four Open Invitations, the
latest on December 10, 2002, soliciting views from the hemisphere's
public. The Open Invitations were announced on the FTAA Web site, and
countries agreed to use national mechanisms to disseminate the
invitations further. In the United States, the invitations were
disseminated through a variety of means, including press releases,
notices to advisory committees, Federal Register notices, and public
meetings.
The Committee has prepared reports for Ministers describing the
submissions it received from the public. These reports have been
published on the official FTAA Web site. Since April 2001, the
Committee has provided, directly to the negotiators in each FTAA
entity, the submissions received from the public.
Quito Ministerial Mandate
At the seventh FTAA Ministerial Meeting held in Quito, Ecuador, on
[[Page 79232]]
November 1, 2002, (Quito Ministerial) the Ministers responsible for
trade in the hemisphere reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of
transparency in the FTAA process and recognized the need to enhance and
sustain participation of the different sectors of civil society in this
process.
At the close of the Quito Ministerial, the Ministers issued a
declaration in which they acknowledged the receipt of the contributions
submitted in response to the Committee's Third Open Invitation to Civil
Society (issued 1 November 2001), and thanked the organizations and
persons who took the time and effort to contribute their views.
Ministers also reiterated their instruction to the Committee to
continue to forward to the FTAA entities the contributions submitted by
civil society that refer to their respective issue areas, along with
those related to the FTAA process in general.
Public Release of FTAA Draft Texts
At the Quito Ministerial meeting, Western Hemisphere trade
Ministers decided to make public the second FTAA draft consolidated
texts. The Ministers' prior decision to release the first version of
the draft consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement was endorsed by the
hemisphere's leaders at the Quebec Summit of the Americas on April 20-
22, 2001.
The second draft consolidated texts were made available on November
1, 2002 on the USTR Web site and on the official FTAA Web site in all
four languages. The texts were produced by the nine FTAA Negotiating
Groups (market access; agriculture; services; intellectual property
rights; investment; government procurement; competition policy; dispute
settlement; and subsidies, antidumping and countervailing duties) and
by the FTAA Technical Committee on Institutional Issues. The second
draft consolidated texts contain many brackets, indicating that the
text enclosed by such brackets has not been agreed to by all FTAA
governments.
2. Invitation for Public Comments
On December 10, 2002, the FTAA Civil Society Committee issued an
Open and Ongoing Invitation to the public in the Western Hemisphere for
written comments on the FTAA process. The Open and Ongoing Invitation
is an important part of U.S. efforts to ensure that the views of the
public receive consideration in the FTAA negotiating process and to
encourage the public's participation.
Public comment in response to the Open and Ongoing Invitation is
welcome by the FTAA Civil Society Committee on a continuing bases.
Comments received by the Committee through May 1, 2003 will form the
basis for the Committee's next report to the FTAA trade Ministers.
3. Requirements for Submission
In order to be considered, each submission must:
--Identify the submitter(s), specifying name(s) and contact
information;
--Make reference to matters relating to the FTAA process and/or the
second draft FTAA Agreement;
--Be in written form, in at least one of the official FTAA
languages (Spanish, English, French, Portugese);
--Be accompanied by the cover sheet which follows (and also is
available on the USTR and FTAA Web sites), with an indication of the
FTAA entity or entities to which contribution pertains;
--If greater than five pages, include an executive summary, no
longer than two pages, which summarizes and identifies the issues
considered in the document. (The FTAA Secretariat will translate all
executive summarizes and contributions if less than five pages.)
--Be sent directly to the Chair of the Committee of Government
Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society at one of the
above addresses.
Contributions in response to the Committee's Open and Ongoing
Invitation can be submitted by e-mail, fax, courier, or postal mail and
must be accompanied by the submission cover sheet (reproduced below).
In the interest of facilitating translation into the working languages
of the FTAA (English and Spanish) and distribution among the countries
of the hemisphere, it is highly recommended that contributions be
submitted via e-mail or otherwise in electronic format (i.e., on
computer diskette), to one of the addresses above. Contributions
submitted by other means will be given equal consideration and every
effort will be made to process the transmission of these documents
expeditiously.
In a separate notice being published today, the interagency Trade
Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is inviting comments on the second draft
consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement. Members of the public may
choose to submit comments to the FTAA Civil Society Committee as
specified above, the TPSC, or both.
Christina Sevilla,
Director, Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison.
FTAA--Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of
Civil Society (SOC); Cover Sheet for Open Invitation Contributions
Name(s)----------------------------------------------------------------
Organization(s)--------------------------------------------------------
Address----------------------------------------------------------------
Telephone--------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail-----------------------------------------------------------------
Country----------------------------------------------------------------
Fax--------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Pages--------------------------------------------------------
Language---------------------------------------------------------------
Contribution covers the following country(ies)
or region(s):----------------------------------------------------------
FTAA Entities
(Please check the FTAA Entity(ies) addressed in the
contribution).
Negotiating Group on Agriculture
Negotiating Group on Competition Policy
Negotiating Group on Dispute Settlement
Negotiating Group on Government Procurement
Negotiating Group on Intellectual Property Rights
Negotiating Group on Investment
Negotiating Group on Market Access
Negotiating Group on Services
Negotiating Group on Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing
Rights
Committee of Government Representatives on the Participating of
Civil Society
Joint Government-Private Sector Committee of Experts on Electronic
Commerce
Consultative Group on Smaller Economies
Technical Committee on Institutional Issues (general and
institutional aspects of the FTAA Agreement)
FTAA Process (check if the contribution is of relevance of all the
entities)
Executive Summary: (2 pages maximum) must accompany any
contribution with more than five pages. (Executive summaries of
contributions of more than five pages as well as contributions
totaling less than five pages are to be forwarded to FTAA
Negotiating Groups and other Entities according to the information
provided above.)
[FR Doc. 02-32767 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P