The OAS and Trade

As an institution, the OAS has been involved in the trade area for many years. In 1970 a Special Committee for Consultation and Negotiation (CECON) was established under Article 7 of the Statutes of the Inter-American Economic and Social Council (CIES) to be a standing body and to serve as the basis for internal discussion and negotiation between the United States and the other countries of the OAS on regional development issues, especially trade. CECON met in regular sessions at least once a year and held consultative meetings on important issues whenever the members deemed necessary. The Committee considered subjects such as U.S. trade policy measures and proposals that affected Latin America and the Caribbean, the US Generalized System of Preferences, and the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, among others.

During the 1970s the OAS maintained a representative office in Geneva for several years, with a staff member dedicated to following the trade issues at the GATT and the UNCTAD and reporting back to the OAS member states. This office was closed in the early 1980s due to budgetary constraints.

Under the impulsion of the successful conclusion of the WTO Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations in 1993, the OAS General Assembly converted CECON into the Special Committee on Trade (SCT or CEC in Spanish). The Committee was assigned a new organizational structure and functions for the purpose of moving toward “a renewed commitment for dialogue and cooperation on trade and related matters. . . .with a view to promoting the expansion and liberalization of hemispheric trade.” (Resolution AG/RES.1220(XXIII-0/93)).

 The relationship between the Special Committee on Trade and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development was set out in AG/RES.1438(XXVI-0/96) adopted at the General Assembly in June 1996, which incorporates the SCT as a Special Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI). In this same resolution CIDI and its officials were assigned the same functions with respect to the SCT as were previously assigned to the CIES, and the SCT and its officials were required to fulfill for CIDI the same reporting, coordination, and other functions that they previously had to perform for CIES. 

The Committee met a few times in the period between 1993 and 1995 until the launching of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process overtook the trade agenda. The last formal meeting of the SCT was held in March 1996, while the last meeting of the Advisory Group of the SCT was held in September 1996. At that time the Advisory Group concluded that it would not be convenient to hold meetings of the SCT since the debate on trade issues among the Member States was taking place in the context of the FTAA process, which had its own well-established bodies and mechanisms. The Chairman of the Advisory Group conveyed this message to CIDI. Although the SCT has not met now for nearly a decade, it still exists as a statutory body within the OAS and therefore could potentially be revived at some point if the member states so desire. 

After the first Summit of the Americas in December 1994, the OAS, through the newly-created Trade Unit and as part of the Tripartite Committee, devoted its efforts in the trade area to providing technical and analytical support to the negotiating and other bodies set up under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process. This effort continued through three years of preparatory work (1995-1998), six years of formal negotiating meetings starting in April 1998, eight Trade Ministerial meetings and seventeen Vice Ministerial meetings. The Trade Unit provided technical and analytical support to nine of the twelve FTAA Working Groups during the preparatory phase and to nine of the Negotiating Groups and Special Committees once the formal negotiating process was launched.  The FTAA negotiations have been at a standstill since the last formal meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee in February 2004. 

The OAS has continued its work in the trade and integration area under the “Strategic Plan for Partnership for Integral Development 2006-2007” adopted by the OAS member states in June 2006 (AG/RES. 2201 (XXXVI-O/06) (Strategic Plan) focusing on: strengthening the human and institutional capacities of member states, providing support to economic integration and trade processes, promoting the dialogue with civil society and transparency as well as facilitating the participation of the private sector, particularly of the micro, small and medium enterprises in international trade.