The Council is a multilateral body that complements the already existing bilateral trade and investment councils and whose purpose is to promote dialogue and identify and propose the adoption of facilitation mechanisms for these activities.

The United States Congress, on December 4, 1991, passed the Andean Trade Preferences Act that benefits most of the country’s imports from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in order to support the drug control effort.

Considering that the act was due to expire on December 4, 2001, the CAN Member Countries made intensive joint and coordinated efforts, within the framework of the CFP, to secure its renewal and expansion and Venezuela’s incorporation. Those efforts included visits to Washington and talks between the Andean Trade and Foreign Ministers and United States officials at the highest levels, among other activities.

On August 6, 2002, United States President, George W. Bush, approved the 2002 Trade Act providing for the renewal and expansion of the Andean trade preferences (ATPDEA) Act.

The Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) renews and extends to December 31, 2006 the ATPA benefits granted unilaterally by the U.S. government to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It does not, however, extend those benefits to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, despite by repeated requests the Andean Community Member Countries.

Spurred by the need to have stable and predictable trading relations with the United States once the period of effectiveness of the ATPDEA expires, Colombia, Ecuador y Peru have been negotiating a free trade agreement with that country since May 2004, in order to promote more trade and investment.

It should be added here that Bolivia has been participating as an observer in those negotiations.

For more information about the subject, see the page on the Andean Community General Secretariat’s Support Program for Trade Negotiations.

The Andean Community wants to strengthen its relations with the United States by building an agenda for political dialogue that will allow the two parties to arrive at a consensual overall vision of issues that are of common interest, among them democracy, social development, security, and the fight against drugs.

The Andean Council of Foreign Ministers is accordingly promoting periodic consultations during regular meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.

In the area of cooperation, it should be stressed that the United States has given the Andean Community technical assistance on agricultural health, customs issues, and hemispheric trade negotiations, among other matters.