Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is an ambitious trade agreement that would include all 34 countries in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean (except Cuba). The FTAA was proposed in 1994 right after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted in attempt to expand that agreement and create the world's largest free-trade bloc.
The U.S. set out to complete negotiations by the year 2005, but negotiations have been stalled since early 2004 because some of the more powerful developing countries are standing firm against pressures to include some of the worst aspects of past trade agreements.
Like other free trade agreements, the FTAA was being negotiated with little oversight from elected officials or citizen input, allowing the process to be heavily influenced by corporate interests.
What is at Stake
Although the negotiations are currently stalled and the FTAA may
not end up being as comprehensive as anticipated two years ago
(see current status of FTAA negotiations below), the following threats
remain:
Threat to democracy
Despite the fact that trade rules can trump public health and environmental regulations, declare living wage mandates illegal, or overturn professional licensing standards in healthcare, most citizens have little voice in the negotiations.
The final FTAA could include investor rights, services, and government purchasing rules, which threaten the ability of governments, at all levels, to enact policies they determine are in the interest of public health, human rights, environmental sustainability, and development.
Threat to workers and immigrants
This "race-to-the-bottom" will accelerate under the FTAA as corporations pit exploited workers in places like Mexico against workers in countries such as Haiti and Guatemala.
Developing countries' small farmers and business people will be put at even greater risk as they are forced to compete with U.S. companies and multinationals characterized by higher levels of productivity, technological advantages, economies of scale, and enormous government subsidies in areas such as agriculture.
By following the NAFTA model that allows farm aid in rich countries while eliminating tariffs on crops (such as corn) essential for food security in developing countries, developing country small farmers' income will continue to be slashed, causing more to lose their land and migrate to urban centers or the U.S. in search of work.
Threat to public goods
Despite the fact that access to clean and potable water for all
is a human right that should be protected and responsibly managed
by governments, the FTAA could encourage privatization and turn one
of our life-giving resources into something that is sold to the highest
bidder.
Status of the FTAA Negotiations
During the last FTAA Ministerial meetings in Miami in November 2003, the trade ministers worked hard to avoid a collapse in the talks. Going into Miami there was strong disagreement between the U.S. and Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. The three Latin American countries refused to accept the aggressive demands from the U.S. to go beyond current WTO agreements in the areas of intellectual property, government purchasing, competition policy, and investment policy. Simultaneously, the U.S. refused to move on demands to reduce domestic agricultural subsidies, insisting they would only negotiate this issue at the WTO level. The result, was what is now referred to as "FTAA-Lite."
FTAA-Lite
In stark contrast to previous agreement strategies that bound all member countries to one set of comprehensive obligations, the Miami declaration shifted the framework. Under this "FTAA-Lite" model, member governments only need to commit to a set of "first tier" common obligations, yet to be determined, and are free to select which "second tier" regulations they will or will not abide by.
Despite this two-tiered compromise, the FTAA negotiations remain at a stalemate. With recent passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (see CAFTA) and bilateral agreements in the Andean region advancing (see US-Colombia FTA) the FTAA negotiations could once again start up.
More Resources on the FTAA
This page was last updated October 2006, the status of trade
agreements is constantly changing, please continue to look to our
website for updated versions of these agreements and other resources.
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