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VIII Americas Business Forum
November 17-19, 2003 Hyatt Regency Miami Registration will be open starting Sunday, Nov. 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday, November 17 thru Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Technical Committee will be responsible for the coordination of the Workshops. It will analyze the position papers, prepare the topics of debate and the agendas of each Workshop, giving preference to unresolved issues as well as new themes that had not been included in the Workshops of previous ABF’s. It will also su pervise the writing of final recommendations, producing the final document and coordination of the meeting of Trade Ministers for the presentation of the final recommendations.
Rules and Procedures ABF Miami 2003 Workshops
1. As with past forums, the VIII Americas Business Forum (ABF) will precede the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Ministerial meeting, thus allowing the business community to present their suggestions and specific proposals to responsible governmental representatives from the 34 negotiating countries. 2. To make the most of this opportunity, the Miami ABF Organizing Committee urges all participants to focus their attention on the Second Draft FTAA Agreement text released in November 2002, and to prepare and submit all comments and proposals with specific reference to that Draft Text. It is likely that another updated version of the Draft Text will be publicly released before the Miami Ministerial. Participants should be alert to this possible update and refer to it to draft their Final Position Papers. 3. Again, the ABF centers on business organizations and business people from throughout the Americas, interested in and affected by the hemispheric integration process, particularly the FTAA ne gotiations. Each ABF seeks to: a) influence the intergovernmental trade policy formulation process, b) have a direct impact on the official government negotiators, c) obtain useful information for formulating business strategies and, d) form strategic business contacts and expand their commercial networks. 4. To attain these objectives the ABF Miami 2003 will present: a) Eleven (11) concurrent Workshops linked to the nine current FTAA negotiating groups and two of the consultative committees b) An ABF Final Plenary Session c) A presenta tion session of Final Recommendations to Trade Ministers
Workshop Objectives 1. Consensus Recommendations. The Americas Business Forum Workshops seek to contribute consensus recommendations to Trade Ministers on issues under consideration in the official FTAA negotiations. As with the previous seven ABF’s, the Miami 2003 ABF Organizing Committee wish to foster a fruitful and vigorous interchange of views on the FTAA negotiations by hemispheric business sector participants. The ABF Workshops have always been the most important components of the Forum, since they offer a space for businesses to express concerns and interests in the FTAA process, to discuss unresolved problems and direct their recommendations to the official FTAA negotiators. 2. Position Papers. The ABF Organizing Committee solicits the written views of representative business organizations of each Western Hemisphere country, and organizes the Workshops around the relevant themes that emerge. Position Paper submissions will be reviewed by Workshop Authorities and the Technical Committee. Reviewers will synthesize the recommendations of each presenting organization under each Workshop theme according to the agenda of the official FTAA Negotiation Groups, and will prepare discussion documents and an agenda for each Workshop. 3. Value Added. Nevertheless, in the last two years, as the FTAA negotiations have intensified and the Draft FTAA Agreement Text has been made publicly available (July 2001, updated November 2002), the drafting of updates to the bracketed text and the development of the Ministerial Declaration have typically occurred apart from and prior to the ABF and the Ministerial. Thus, the value of the ABF’s observations and inputs to the Trade Ministers and to the negotiating process has seemed to many participants progressively more difficult to assure. 4. Improved Relevance. Thus, it is urgent that ABF Miami 2003 now takes greater advantage of the opportunity presented by the public availability of the Draft FTAA Agreement Text to improve ABF Workshop recommendations, tie them to specific Chapters and Sections of the November 2002 Draft, and thus assure their maximum relevance to the negotiating process. 5. ABF 2003 Goals. Accordingly, the ABF 2003 Organizing Committee has worked to assure that the ABF Workshops: a) Offer the most relevant and usable inputs to the Ministers and the negotiators; b) Provide the participants with opportunities to focus primarily on issues that remain unresolved and upon which no prior ABF consensus recommendation was advanced in the Quito ABF; c) Advance specific proposed FTAA Agreement language and terminology in every possible opportunity. 6. Basis for the Rules. The following sections describe the Workshops and the rules for submission of Position Papers. The Technical Committee urges all potential submitters of documents for possible discussion in the Workshops to carefully review these guidelines. In brief, the objectives of the ABF 2003 Workshops are to: a) Develop clear recommendations for concrete and specific action on each Workshop topic for presentation to the Hemisphere's Trade Ministers in terms that relate directly to the November 2002 Draft FTAA Agreement. b) Heighten understanding of key issues within the Hemispheric Business Community for each FTAA negotiation area and improve business representatives' understanding of each other's viewpoints. c) Clarify areas of consensus; identify areas of disagreement and the reasons for them; and permit differing viewpoints to be expressed in a respectful, collegial atmosphere. 7. Texts to Consult. More than in prior fora, ABF Miami 2003 participants have more publicly available FTA texts and other major resources to inform their consideration of positions. The ABF 2003 Organizing Committee directs participants’ attention to the following as the most relevant and valuable resources to consult: a) November 2002 Draft FTAA Agreement ABF 2003 website link – also http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ftaadraft02/eng/draft_e.asp b) Past ABF Workshop recommendations (Quito 2002 http://www.sice.oas.org/ftaa/quitobfe.asp and Buenos Aires 2001) 8. < A href="http://www.miamiftaa2003.com/rules_regulations.htm#annex#annex">Annex of Other Useful Materials. See this annex at the end of this document for additional resource materials.
Rules of Procedure 1. Instructions for Preparation and Submission of Position Papers a) General Guidelines i. Deadline: Position Papers must be submitted by Septem ber 20, 2003. ii. Qualified Organizations: Only national or regional business organizations from FTAA countries may submit Position Papers. However, all organizations that have submitted papers to previous ABF’s will be accepted as qualifying. iii. MANDATORY LINKAGE to Draft FTAA Agreement: In advocating for a particular position or principle, ALL WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS MUST MAKE EXPLICIT AND SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE RELEVANT LANGUAGE IN THE DRAFT FTAA AGREEMENT TEXT. In cases of disagreement with a stated bracketed segment, preference for one form of alternative bracketed text over another, or suggestion of additional text where none appears to achieve the proposal’s purpose, all Position Papers submitted must cite the particular segment in question by Chapter, Section and line of the Draft, and should always offer substitute language to achieve the submitter’s proposed end. iv. Preparation of Position Papers: In deciding whether to submit a Position Paper, participants are respectfully requested to first: a. Carefully analyze the current Draft FTAA Agreement Text to determine the location of proposed language dealing with the issues that the participant organization wishes to discuss. http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ftaadraft02/eng/draft_e.asp b. Carefully review the ABF Quito 2002 Consensus Recommendations to the Trade Ministers (http://www.sice.oas.org/ftaa/quitobfe.asp; also: Workshop on Agriculture; Workshop on Competition Policy; Workshop on Dispute Settlement; Workshop on Public Sector Procurement; Workshop on Intellectual Property; Workshop on Investment; Sub-Workshop on Origin; Workshop on Services; Workshop on Smaller Economies; Workshop on Subsidies, Anti-dumping, and Countervailing Duties); and c. Consult as convenient prior ABF Buenos Aires 2001 Consensus Recommendations posted on the ABF 2003 website. v. Position Papers may introduce new issues. However, any such issue must be related to the subject of the particular negotiating group. The Workshop Authorities and the Technical Committee will determine re levance. b) Content of the Papers i. Avoidance of repetition. As with the prior guideline, all submissions should avoid extensive restatement or advocacy of positions that have already been incorporated in the recommendations of the Quito ABF or a previous ABF. ii. Preference for unresolved issues. The goal of the Miami 2003 ABF is to provide the Ministers with recommendations: 1) Focused primarily on matters that previous ABF’s have not adequately covered, either because of currently changed circumstances, or because the subject matters are new, and iii. Previous consensus topics will NOT appear in agendas. Again, all proposals should be related to the November 2002 Draft FTAA Agreement Text, contributing new subjects, or significant advances which have not been included in the consensus recommendations of previous ABF’s. Therefore, Position Papers should take care to offer only those recommendations that they believe will result in improvements over the consensus agreements reached in previous ABF’s. Topics on which consensus has been expressed in previous ABF’s, and in particular in last year’s VII Quito< SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> ABF, will not be accepted for inclusion in the discussion agenda at a Workshop. Topics on which consensus has been reached in previous forums should not be discussed in the ABF Miami Workshops. The Organizing Committee will charge the Workshop Chairs to apply this central principle in the conduct of the discussions. Each Workshop Chair will be provided with a copy of the Quito recommendations to facilitate the work. iv. Only one paper per workshop. Qualifying Business Organizations may submit Position Papers for more than one Workshop, but no more than ONE FIVE-PAGE PAPER per organization per Workshop, on: 1) Market Access, 2) Agricul ture, 3) Government Procurement, 4) Investment, 5) Competition Policy, 6) Intellectual Property Rights, 7) Services, 8) Dispute Settlement, 9) Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing duties, 10) Smaller Economies, and 11) Institutional Issues. Papers should discuss regulatory matters, promote trade policy formulation and contain specific recommendations, avoiding extensive review of subjects considered in previous ABF Workshops. If a Position Paper seeks to treat a subject of a prior ABF consensus recommendation, the Position Paper should justify the desire to reopen the point and must include further analysis, revised proposed conclusions, and proposed substitute or additional text for inclusion in the Draft FTAA Agreement. c) Format of Position Papers --Translations and Abstracts Required i. Size and Font. The Position Paper text FOR ANY SINGLE WORKSHOP may have a maximum of FIVE (5) single-spaced pages. In addition, all papers MUST be accompanied by a one-page ABSTRACT that briefly states the recommendations. Papers should be submitted double-spaced. Text should be in 12-point Verdana or Century Schoolbook fonts for maximum readability. ii. Translations. Position Papers may be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese. To assure the accurate rendering of the positions advanced, submitters should provide a professional translation of their Position Paper into the other two official languages of ABF Miami 2003. Whether or not accompanied by professional translations, ABSTRACTS only of all Position Papers complying with the instructions will be translated into the official ABF Miami 2003 languages and will be posted on the official ABF Miami 2003 website. iii. Website Posting. All Position Papers accepted will be posted on the ABF Miami 2003 Website. No hard copies will be printed or distributed by the Technical Committee. All submitters are welcome to provide hard copies available for participants at the ABF Miami document distribution points during the Workshops. iv. Material for Workshop Package. All abstracts will be included in the Workshop package along with the relevant Workshop Discussion Guideline and Agenda. v. Submission. Position Papers MUST be submitted in electronic form as an e-mail attachment, preferably as a Microsoft Word document to the email address abfpaper@fiu.edu. Submitters a lso wishing to submit a hard copy must do so separately by certified mail or courier. Again, the deadline for the submission of papers is September 20, 2003. 2. Proposed Workshops and Agendas a) Eleven Workshops. There will be one Workshop for each official FTAA Negotiating Group and two Special Committees. These are: 1) Market Access, 2) Agriculture, 3) Government Procurement, 4) Investment, 5) Competition Policy, 6) Intellectual Property Rights, 7) Services, 8) Dispute Settlement, 9) Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing duties, 10) Smaller Economies, and 11) General and Institutional Issues. b) Prepar ation of Agendas. Per the instructions for Submission of Position Papers, the Technical Committee and the Workshop Authorities will construct each agenda giving preference to discussion of unresolved or novel issues not included in prior ABF Workshops consensus recommendations. As noted previously, the Draft FTAA Agreement Text of November 2002 and the most recent ABF recommendations (SEE links above) must be referred to specifically in preparation of positions. Where possible, every effort should be made to ratify, reiterate, or incorporate by reference the language and tenor of the consensus ABF positions therein expressed. c) Final Agenda to be Posted on website. The Technical Committee, in conjunction with the Chair and Vice Chair of each Workshop, will analyze all Position Papers received, determine the agenda of each workshop, recommend the ove rall Workshop Agenda to the Organizing Committee, and will facilitate the preparation of each Workshop’s Agenda. The Technical Committee will strive to make the final Workshop Agenda recommendations within six weeks after the September 20, 2003 due date for submission of Position Papers. The Workshop Agenda will then be posted on the official ABF Miami 2003 website. d) Special Note on the Workshop on Institutional Issues. This will be the first opportunity for ABF participants to offer views on questions such as the eventual structure and functions of the FTAA Permanent Secretariat, the nature and operation of the Hemispheric Cooperation Program announced by the Ministers at the Quito Ministerial, and the structural reforms needed in individual countries to enable the adequate management of the trade agenda. All new subject matters recently introduced into official FTAA deliberations may be addressed under this Workshop. Should the submissions prove to be classifiable into sub-sets, the Technical Committee may organize a sub-workshop on certain issues. e) Management of the Workshops Each workshop will have a Chair, Vice Chair, Rapporteur and Vice Rapporteur. The Chair and Vice Chair shall be of the same nationality as the country or regional integration group currently holding the Chair and Vice Chair of the respective FTAA Negotiating Group or Special Committee. Overall management of the Workshops will be the responsibility of the Technical Committee. Workshop authorities for ABF Miami 2003 will be as follows:
The Rapporteurs and Vice Rapporteurs will be appointed by the Organizing Committee. Preference will be for bilingual individuals familiar with the subject matter, experienced in prior ABF Workshops, and computer adept. f) Workshop Function Each Workshop will be conducted by a Chair, who will coordinate and moderate the discussion, facilitate the development of consensus wherever possible, and direct the development of conclusions and recommendations from the discussion. A Vice Chair will assist in the conduct of each Workshop. The Chair will also be assisted by a Rapporteur and a Vice Rapporteur. T he Rapporteur will be responsible for preparing the Workshop's report to the Chair of ABF Miami 2003 from notes of the proceedings. The Vice Rapporteur will also be available to the Chair and Rapporteur to help them complete their tasks and to serve as a link with the Technical Committee. (See Definition of Roles - below). Each Workshop will begin with a report from the Chair on the relevant topic. The Chair will also bear in mind the recommendations of the ABF Quito 2002 and reiterate the intention to avoid repetition of or restatement of positions which were included in the consensus recommendations to Ministers in Quito. The Chair will outline the salient issues and/or proposals to be discussed. Participants in each Workshop will be provided a summary document prepared by the Technical Committee and included in the information kit previously distributed to all participants. The summary will condense key ideas or concepts from the various Position Papers submitted. Chairs and Vice Chairs will organize the discussion around the summary document as they deem appropriate, and prioritize the discussion agenda accordingly. The Chair will explain the method of proceeding at the outset of the sessions. g) Interventions Workshop participants will be limited to three (3) minute interventions, to be controlled by the Vice Chair as timekeeper. The Chair will recognize speakers and decide the sequence of interventions. Speakers should state name and affiliation. The Chair will ensure that the same participants do not monopolize the discussion. The Chair may rule particular interventions as non-germane if they diverge from the assigned top ic or duplicate the subject matter of other Workshops. If appropriate, the Chair may refer presenters to other Workshops more relevant to their presentation. To preserve the private sector character of the Americas Business Forum, government representatives are welcome to attend the Workshop sessions as Observers. h) Workshop Outputs and Recommendations As far as possible, Workshop recommendations will be developed by consensus and the Chair will seek to summarize discussion and seek consensus on issues. When there is consensus on a particular conclusion or recommendation, it will be so recorded. Participants will not be asked to vote on particular proposals or recommendations. When no clear consensus is reached, the Rapporteurs, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, will attem pt to identify the differing recommendations and briefly summarize the main issues on which conflicting viewpoints were expressed. In identifying each issue, the Rapporteur and Vice Rapporteur should record any significant divergence of views. Workshop Chairs will organize the sessions to afford participants the opportunity to review and discuss the draft reports of their workshops before finalization by the Chair. Copies of draft Workshop reports will be made available to participants (in hard copies or electronic version on computer screens) before the end of discussions on Tuesday, November 18. Participants may offer input to the final reports during the final sessions on Tuesday. The Chair and Vice Chair will request comments or clarifications from the floor on the draft recommendations and ensure that Rapporteurs take account of those concerns in finalizing the record. The final draft of the reco mmendations will be decided by the Chair and Vice Chair. Under the supervision of the Chair, the Rapporteur, the Vice Rapporteur and the Vice Chair will prepare the final report for delivery to the official translators. The final report, with its conclusions and recommendations, will be submitted to the ABF Miami 2003 Executive Director for presentation to the Trade Ministers on Wednesday, November 19th. A compilation of the final reports of all the workshops will be posted on the ABF Miami 2003 website at the conclusion of the Forum. Reports will be printed in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. i) Definition of Roles for ABF Miami 2003 Workshop Officials ~~~ Chairs 1. Introduce the issues to be discussed and present the param eters for discussion within the mandate of each Workshop and the agreed agenda. 2. Together with the Vice Chair, develop each Workshop agenda in coordination with the Technical Committee, based on the Position Papers submitted. 3. Coordinate discussions, ensure equal opportunity for interventions by Workshop participants, seek to achieve consensus in the development of recommendations. 4. Ensure that the Workshops are conducted in a constructive and collegial manner. 5. Collaborate with Vice Chairs and Rapporteurs to ensure accurate reporting of the output of each Workshop. 6. Enforce common rules of conduct for the discussions and the allocation of time to speakers for interventions. 7. Ensure that the Workshops focus on tangible, specific, realistic recommendations with targets that can be implemented in real time and contribute to meet the official objective of concluding FTAA negotiations by 2005. 8. Present the final draft of the recommendations and conclusions of the different workshops to the ABF Miami 2003 Executive Director. ~~~ Vice Chairs 1. Assist Chairs in coordinating and managing the Workshop. 2. Act as time-keeper during the Workshop presentations and discussions. 3. Collaborate with the Chairs, Rapporteurs and the ABF Organizing Committee to develop a synthesis of the ideas and recommendations/suggestions presented in the Position Papers received in order to produce a dynamic agenda for each Work shop. 4. Work with the Chair in assessing the relevance of Position Papers submitted and in setting the agenda for the Workshops. Collaborate with the Chair in setting the agenda for the discussions if insufficient papers are received. 5. Supervise the Rapporteurs in developing the recommendations and conclusions from each Workshop. 6. Receive feedback from participants and take notes of comments, objections, or clarifications of points in the draft recommendations and conclusions of the Workshops. 7. Ensure the accuracy of the conclusions and recommendations of the particular Workshop, and of the final report on the ABF Miami 2003 Workshop conclusions and recommendations. ~~~ Rapporteurs 1. In collaboration with the Technical Committee, draft syntheses of the recommendations and proposals in Position Papers in order to develop an agenda for each ABF Miami 2003 Workshop. If necessary, contact the authors of Position Papers submitted to clarify points raised. 2. Cooperate with the Chairs, Vice Chairs and Technical Committee in the implementation of rules of procedure for the Workshops. 3. Record the Workshop discussions accurately and produce a report at the end of each day's deliberations. 4. Prepare reports summarizing the Workshop conclusions and recommendations to be submitted by the Chair to the Executive Director of ABF Miami 2003. The format for the reports will be decided by the ABF Organizing Committee and the Technical Committee. 5. Cooperate with Chairs and Vice Chairs and interact with ABF participants to ensure that changes requested by the Chairs are made to the final draft of recommendations and conclusions for presentation at the end of the ABF. 6. Be available and accessible to the Chair and Vice Chair at all times during ABF Miami 2003. ~~~ Vice Rapporteurs 1. Assist the Rapporteurs during the Workshop discussions and serve as back-up in the event that any Rapporteur is unable to perform his/her duties. 2. Assist the Rapporteurs in drafting syntheses of the recommendations and proposals in Position Papers. 3. Assist the Rapporteurs in summarizing the results of the Workshops to be submitted by the Chairs to the executive Director of ABF Miami 2003. 4. Perform any support role as requested by the Chair of the Workshop. 5. Cooperate with the Rapporteurs to ensure that the report for each Workshop is accurate. 6. Serve as liaison for each Workshop with the Technical Committee.
ABF Miami 2003 – TECHNICAL COMMITTEE Annex to Workshop Rules and Regulations - Some Useful Sources for Preparation of Position Papers 1. SICE, the Organization of American States Trade Unit’s Foreign Trade Information System, website in English, Spanish and Portuguese contains extensive information about hemispheric integration and trade trends. Contains full texts of most current trade agreements entered into by any country in the Western Hemisphere www.sice.oas.org 2. Final Text - Costa Rica – Canada Free Trade Agreement. First FTA between a large industrial economy and a small economy in this hemisphere. Contains terms of trade as well as technical assistance and development assistance sections. ~~ Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Commerce website www.comex.go.cr (English) (Spanish) 3. Final Text of the US-Chile Free Trade Agreement ~~ Chilean Foreign Ministry website - http://www.direcon.cl/frame/chile_eeuu/f_chile_eeuu.html (Spanish with additional explanatory materials) 4. Canadian Government FTAA website - http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/ftaa_neg-en.asp Complete texts of all FTAA chapters and Canadian negotiating positions on each, plus FAQs.
(August 13, 2003) THE FTAA MINISTERIAL AND AMERICA'S BUSINESS FORUM ANNOUNCE THAT HAS BEEN LAUNCHED FOR WORLDWIDE REGISTRATION FOR ATTENDING DELEGATES Miami, Fl. - Miami -Organizers of both the Free Trade Area of the America's (FTAA) Ministerial Meeting and the America's Business Forum from November 17 - 21, 2003 have launched a website that allows delegates to register for attendance at the Miami-based activities. Visit www.MiamiFTAA2003.com to register. In order to receive proper credentials country delegates need to register on this site for conference confirmation, housing, travel arr angements, submission of papers for the ABF and other event specifics. As the November date approaches, updates about speaker confirmation's, event activities and important news will be included on the site. The FTAA Ministerial and America's Business Forum have created the site as part of the collaborative coordination efforts amongst federal, state, county, city, and private-sector organizations to ensure a successful November event. Ambassador Luis Lauredo, Executive Director of Free Trade Area of the Americas Ministerial/America's Business Forum stated, "The availability of this website for our attendees to register, receive travel arrangements, updates and information will streamline the process and encourage significant participation." The Free Trade Area of the America's Ministerial Meeting and America's Business Forum during November bring together political, business and community leaders from 34 Western Hemisphere countries to discuss current trade issues and the trade negotiations which are the vehicle to create prosperity and provide opportunity for the betterment of the people of the Western Hemisphere. The Free Trade Area of the America's agreement would create a hemispheric-wide common market comprised of 800 million consumers and an economic impact of $13 trillion dollars, making it the largest trade area of its kind in the history of the world. For additional information, please contact Suzanne Jewell at 305-213-3510 or motivusjewell@aol.com Media Contact: Business Forums
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