Joint Communiqué of
the Meeting of MERCOSUR-CAN Foreign
Ministers
Santiago, Chile, June 10,
2003
Meeting on June 10, 2003 in
Santiago, Chile during the Thirty-Third OAS
General Assembly, the Foreign Ministers of
MERCOSUR and of the Andean Community (CAN)
agreed to reaffirm their commitment to do
their utmost to ensure the conclusion of
negotiations and the signing of the Free
Trade Agreement between the two blocs before
the year is out.
With this aim in mind, the
Foreign Ministers agreed to set up a working
group consisting of the Presidencies of the
MERCOSUR and the CAN which, together with
their respective Secretariats, would draw up
a work plan and timetable to serve as a
navigation chart for the negotiations. The
working group would monitor the course of
those negotiations to their conclusion.
The Foreign Ministers
instructed the Andean Community General
Secretariat and the MERCOSUR Technical
Secretariat to jointly undertake with the
Pro Tempore Secretariats of the two blocs to
prepare a document pinpointing the most
sensitive issues in the negotiations as
rapidly as possible. This document would be
studied at a meeting in July of the
Vice-Ministers responsible for the
negotiations.
The Foreign Ministers stated
that in order to speed up the negotiations,
the Trade, Treasury and Agriculture
Ministers of all of the Member Countries
should participate in the forthcoming
meetings, as appropriate and in accordance
with a schedule to be established.
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