Letter of the Andean Foreign Ministers to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell

Lima, September 10, 2001

Dear Mr. Secretary of State,

We are writing to ask, through you, for the decisive support of President George W. Bush’s Administration in securing the renewal and expansion of the Andean Tariff Preferences Act (ATPA) and Venezuela’s incorporation into that instrument, as a means of contributing effectively to the war on drugs and benefiting each and all of the Andean Community countries.

We are convinced that determined action on the part of the United States Executive before Congress will facilitate the passage of a stronger Act before the ATP currently in effect expires this coming December 4. It will also constitute an important step forward in the effort to establish the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

As the Andean Community Presidents pointed out in their letter to President George W. Bush on April 18, 2001, the renewal and expansion of the ATPA is a top priority objective of our countries. This preferential system has made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of the Andean countries by creating lawful employment that is an alternative to jobs connected with drug production and trafficking. As a result, it constitutes a valuable instrument of cooperation in controlling this scourge that jeopardizes economic, social, and political security and stability in the Andean Subregion.

In reiterating the importance of the war against drug trafficking, we have the pleasure of informing you that, in demonstration of our shared commitment, our countries have agreed to the prompt implementation of the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses, which will complement our national efforts. In addition, this plan contains elements in common with the Regional Andean Initiative recently proposed by your government.

We have followed with particular interest the debate on the renewal and expansion of the ATPA in the United States Congress. We recognize that the bill submitted in the Senate points up the importance and urgency of this issue. Nonetheless, we consider that this is only a first step and that it must be perfected in order to comprehensively meet the needs of all of the beneficiary countries.

In this connection, we are encouraged by the fact that the House of Representatives may introduce a bill that contains more provisions than that of the Senate and that answers more fully to the needs of the Andean countries. In particular, we trust that the new bill will take into account the region’s production structure and will not incorporate rules of origin that will restrict access to the United States market by manufactured goods from the Andean Community that incorporate regional factors of production. We are convinced that extending the ATPA to dynamic sectors, such as those of textiles and made-up articles using regional and United States factors of production, and of canned tuna, among others, will do much toward helping to accomplish the objective of creating more lawful alternative jobs.

We have learned that some sectors of the United States textile industry are concerned over the possibility that the entry into the United States market of Andean textiles and made-up articles will result in the loss of jobs. These fears would appear to be groundless, inasmuch as the broadening of the ATPA preferential system could not possibly have such consequences, because the Andean Community exports represent only 1% of the United States imports in these areas. On the contrary, this system would make it possible to establish strategic alliances between United States and Andean producers and industrialists in order to further their interests effectively and thereby obtain mutual benefits.

In the specific case of canned tuna, the enlargement of the trade preferences would help to increase employment, particularly of women, in the local industries and would benefit depressed regions in the Andean countries by allowing them to export a product with a high value added.

Our request to the Administration of President George W. Bush to take a determined stand in the legislative process for the renewal and passage of the enlarged ATPA is based on our conviction that its satisfactory outcome would be one of the United States’ most significant contributions to the development of the Andean Subregion and a key political element in the strategic alliance to control drugs to which our countries are committed under the principle of shared responsibility. We are certain that this step will contribute decisively to the safety, stability, and promotion of free trade in the Hemisphere.

At the same time, we would like to reiterate our request for Venezuela to be incorporated in the ATPA as a full beneficiary, for we are convinced that not only is that incorporation essential to the region’s balance and to the progress and consolidation of Andean integration, but that it will help to strengthen our joint effort in the war on drug trafficking.

Please accept, Mr. Secretary, the assurances of our deepest esteem. 

Gustavo Fernández Saavedra
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Bolivia

Guillermo Fernández de Soto
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

Heinz Moeller Freile
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador

Diego García Sayán
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru

Luis Alfonso Dávila
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela