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 Chile’s
return to the Andean Community as an
Associate Member State this past September
20th is one of the most important
events in the Andean integration process.
This country, which was a founding member of
the CAN in 1969 and withdrew from it in
1976, is already working with the other
Andean countries to find mechanisms to make
its association with the Andean Community
more fruitful.
Events have been very rapid. First, the
Andean countries formalized their
invitation to Chile to become an
Associate Member of the CAN through a letter
delivered to Chilean President Michelle
Bachelet in August 2006. Then, on September
20 of that same year, the Andean Council of
Foreign Ministers meeting in enlarged
session with the CAN Commission, approved
Decision
645, giving Chile the status of Associate
Member Country of the Andean Community.
Subsequently, in November 2006, the CAN
Member Countries, on the one hand, and
Chile, on the other, signed the Act Creating
the CAN-Chile Joint Commission, which held
its
first meeting on December 8 in the
Bolivian city of Cochabamba, where it was
agreed to set up a High-level Technical
Ad-Hoc Working Group to undertake, within a
period of ninety days, to study and analyze
the specific efforts that should be launched
to deepen their relations.
Before the end of May 2007, the scope of
Chile’s participation in the bodies and
institutions of the Andean Integration
System, the mechanisms and measures of the
Cartagena Agreement and the legislation and
regulations to be applied in its relations
with the Andean Community Member Countries,
should be defined, together with the way
those relations will be managed.
It should be stressed that trade relations
between the CAN and Chile have also been
significant and growing. Andean exports to
that country have tripled over the past 4
years, to approach a figure of US$ 1,560
million in 2005, driven mainly by the heavy
growth of Peruvian and Colombian exports,
although all of the Andean countries showed
important increases. Of the Andean
countries, Peru is the largest buyer of
Chilean products, followed in importance by
Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.
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