The Presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru met in Lima on June 9 and 10, 2000 at the Twelfth Andean Presidential Council.

During the meeting they placed their commitment to Andean integration on record and expressed their conviction that its intensification would contribute substantially to the efforts of the countries to cope with their development needs and to attain a dynamic and profitable position on the international scene.

At the same time, they reasserted the Community’s choice of an open regionalism, which has given the process the necessary flexibility to develop a Latin American-oriented regional and hemispheric strategy within the world economy. This strategy has made it possible to increase Andean trade, while also improving the potential for national and Community links with other countries and country blocs.

In this connection, they underscored with considerable satisfaction the joint negotiation being advanced by the Andean Community under a single spokesmanship with regard to the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the conclusion of trade negotiations with Brazil and Argentina in the context of the framework agreement signed by the Community countries with Mercosur. They also reaffirmed their willingness to strengthen their relations with the European Union and other blocs.

They expressed their pleasure at the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Andean Development Corporation, the Andean integration movement’s financial branch and one of the most important and prestigious institutions in Latin America, which that plays a basic role in the financing of the Member Countries’ economic and social development.

The commitments adopted at the Eleventh Andean Presidential Council of Cartagena were reaffirmed in their entirety: formation of the Andean Common Market, implementation of the Common Foreign Policy, development of a social agenda, and execution of a Community policy on border integration and development, together with action aimed at harmonizing and attaining macroeconomic targets.

With those purposes in mind, the Presidents adopted the following:

GUIDELINES:

1. The Andean Council of Foreign Ministers will exercise the political leadership, in coordination with the Andean Community Commission in the case of trade and investment matters, in forming the Andean Common Market, as a space for the free circulation of goods, services, capital, and people, which is geared towards improving human development in the Member Countries and strengthening their competitive position in the world economy.

2. In accordance with the commitment made at the Eleventh Andean Presidential Council, the Andean Common Market should be operational no later than December 31, 2005.

3. The Member Countries will accordingly carry out an agenda of specific objectives and actions established at the Meetings of the Andean Presidential Council and subject to annual scheduling. The results will be evaluated at the regular meetings of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers sitting in enlarged session.

4. The Common Market will be advanced through the progressive adoption of commitments under an overall approach with an appropriate level of political cooperation.

5. In the case of the unimpeded circulation of goods, priority will be placed on consolidating the free trade area, effectively removing non-tariff barriers, and perfecting its operation by adopting complementary economic and commercial disciplines. The perfected Customs Union must be in place by 2005.

6. As for the free circulation of services, Decision 439 will be implemented in the terms and with the deadlines specified.

7. The unimpeded circulation of capital, for its part, will be achieved through cooperation and concerted efforts among the national organizations operating in that sector. Removal of barriers to the movement of capital is essential if the Andean Common Market is to operate and grow.

8. The free circulation of people will be addressed progressively by adjusting national provisions to the unique features of the traffic in businessmen, students, tourists, and citizens at large in the respective border regions.

9. Inasmuch as the construction of the Andean Common Market also calls for the progressive harmonization of macroeconomic policies among the Member States, national authorities should take the necessary steps to accomplish this.

10. Complementary cooperation and integration efforts are needed in order for the Andean Common Market to operate fully. These include harmonizing commercial laws and regulations, setting up mechanisms for legal and police cooperation on civil and criminal matters, and establishing mechanisms to reinforce control and supervision in all areas. The Foreign Ministries must take the necessary action in this regard.

11. The Attachment to this Guideline lists the specific objectives for the next twelve months and the actions that must be taken in the medium term to have an operational Andean Common Market in place by the year 2005.

12. Without detriment to the previous Guideline, other actions can be taken for the cited purposes.

13. The start-up of the Common Foreign Policy has revealed the potential created by the joint efforts of the Member Countries in the regional, hemispheric, and global spheres. We have obtained important results from executing that policy, which underscore the need to continue building up our concerted efforts in international political and economic forums, as well as the Andean Community’s relations with its principal interlocutors.

It is in this connection that we express our pleasure at the signing of Decisions 475 and 476 and charge the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and the Andean Community Commission to continue carrying out the actions and negotiations prioritized in the Common Foreign Policy working agenda.

We instructed the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers to lay down policy guidelines and identify specific actions for cooperation among the Member Countries in fighting the worldwide problems of drugs and corruption more intensely, reinforcing security and confidence-building measures, and furthering the effective protection of human rights and the practice of democracy in the Andean subregion.

Andean Community negotiations with other countries and country blocs must be conducted under the principle of open regionalism and be situated within the context and priorities of Andean Common Foreign Policy.

14. Given their situation and the need to safeguard their interests, we must join efforts to defend the interests of Andean Communities that have settled outside the region for one reason or another when their human rights, individual guarantees, or rights under internationally recognized labor provisions are threatened, and protect them against any racist or xenophobic acts.

Consular authorities must therefore immediately embark upon a cooperation program for exchanging experiences and broadening the coverage of consular services that protect Andean citizens by integrating those services, whenever possible and necessary, and communicate to the authorities of the country of residence of our Andean compatriots the concern of the Andean countries regarding the observance of the rights to which those people are entitled.

We decided that the Andean Presidential Council would hold a special meeting in November or December 2000 to implement the agreements reached at the Eleventh Andean Presidential Council in Cartagena for addressing the following issues:

I. PERFECTION OF THE TRADE IN GOODS

A. Removal of Barriers

1. Perfect the working of the Andean Agricultural Health System by developing Community provisions, improving national bodies with jurisdiction in that area, and encouraging them to establish closer relations with each other.

2. Develop Andean provisions to ensure that national systems of standardization, conformity verification, and metrology, together with product control and surveillance practices, comply with that System and do not constitute obstacles to trade.

3. Take measures to harmonize and facilitate customs procedures.

B. Andean Common Agricultural Policy

 

1. Adopt and carry out an Andean Common Agricultural Policy.