I would like help in learning more about the Free Trade Area of the
Americas. My general impression is that negotiating is ongoing much like
what happened with the WTO. By that I mean that congress has yet to
authorize the negotiations, has no sense of what is going on with them (or
does not want to know anything about them), and that there is a push to
finish an agreement within the next few years. And that this agreement
contains not only the basic structure of the WTO but also the MAI.
There are (I think) nine negotiating groups each organized around a
different area with countries discussing the agreement, and there are
business organizations that are involved in parallel discussions and
offering input and direction to their respective country negotiators.
These areas include such things as investment (the MAI area) and
Government Procurement, and so on.
Does anyone on this list have a feeling for what is coming out and whether
this is something we should be taking seriously.
Thanks in advance,
Marty Hart-Landsberg
