DECISION 549
Establishment of the Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA)

THE ANDEAN COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS,

HAVING SEEN: Articles 1, 3, 16 a), c), g) and h), 20, 22 b), f) and g), 50, 51, 99, 139, 140 and 146 of the codified text of the Cartagena Agreement set out in Decision 406; Decisions 458 and 505 of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers; the Regulations of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers approved through Decision 407; and the Regulations of the Andean Community Commission approved through Decisions 471 and 508; and

WHEREAS: The objectives of the Cartagena Agreement are, among others, to promote the balanced and harmonious development of the Member Countries under equitable conditions through integration and economic and social cooperation; as well as to help decrease the external vulnerability and improve the positioning of the Member Countries in the international economic context, build up subregional solidarity and reduce the differences in development among the Member Countries, in order to bring about a lasting improvement in the standard of living of the inhabitants of the subregion;

The Permanent High-Level Group on Drugs was formed at the Seventh Meeting of the Andean Presidential Council, held in Quito in September 1995;

The bodies and institutions of the Andean Community and its Member Countries have reiterated their commitment to fight against the world drug problem;

Decision 458 on Common Foreign Policy Guidelines identifies one of the aims of the Andean Common Foreign Policy as being to undertake joint efforts to combat the world drug problem which, under the principle of shared responsibility and using a multilateral approach, shall promote international cooperation on all aspects of the problem, among them the development of alternative crops;

In implementing Decision 505, which approves the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses, joint action is being taken with regard to alternative development under the Operational Plan adopted for 2002-2003;

An institutional coordination and cooperation mechanism is needed to foster the implementation of shared alternative development activities and the joint action of the Member Countries;

It is advisable to formalize the Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) within the framework of the Andean Integration System and to ensure its coordination with the Executive Committee formed through Decision 505, in order to combine efforts to carry out common alternative development activities; and

The General Secretariat has presented Proposal 99/Rev. 1 on the Establishment of the Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA);

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To establish the Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA).

Article 2.- The Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) shall be comprised of the national authorities of the Member Countries that are responsible for combating the production and consumption of, and trafficking in, illegal drugs. Each country shall appoint a titular and an alternate representative, who shall be accredited to the Andean Community General Secretariat by their respective Foreign Ministries. .

Article 3.- The Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) shall advise and support the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, the Andean Community Commission and the Andean Community General Secretariat on matters associated with the community’s alternative development policy. The opinions of the Committee and any agreements it may adopt shall not necessarily commit the Member Country concerned.

The Committee shall take action in keeping with the strategy prepared by the Executive Committee of the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Control of Illegal Drugs and Related Offenses.

The Andean Community General Secretariat shall call the meetings of the Committee, on its own initiative or at the request of any Member Country.

Article 4.- The functions of the Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) are:

a) To formulate draft subregional alternative development strategies and proposals for Andean provisions to facilitate that action;

b) To recommend and promote mechanisms for cooperating in the formulation of alternative development policies and to foster the exchange of the knowledge and experiences of the Member Countries within its sphere of competence;

c) To support the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, the Andean Community Commission within its jurisdiction, and the General Secretariat in drawing up the basic guidelines for a Plan of Action for alternative development and to promote its implementation;

d) To promote the coordination and definition of a joint position in specialized international forums;

e) To harmonize methodologies and tools for a follow-up and monitoring system that will make it possible to discover on a well-timed basis when illegal crops are being sown and moved in the subregion;

f) To promote the use of innovative and effective approaches toward preventive alternative development, in order to avoid the sowing and transfer of illegal crops from one area or country to another, through legal and sustainable measures, in keeping with national legal provisions and adjusted to the specific social and ecological conditions of the region where the given project is being executed, while respecting criteria of environmental sustainability;

g) To recommend and promote lines of action that will make it possible to negotiate preferential access to markets for the products that replace the illegal crops, and to develop and consolidate a joint exportable supply that will enable “alternative” products to be positioned in international markets;

h) To study and formulate proposals for production alternatives using the environmental supply available in the Amazon territory;

i) To recommend communications measures as a tool for sensitizing and raising the consciousness of public opinion both nationally and subregionally;

j) To study and propose investment promotion measures in areas of alternative development;

k) To draw up alternative development projects at the Andean level;

l) To prepare plans and programs to secure international technical assistance;

m) To perform any other functions in this area that the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and the Member Countries assign to it; and

n) To draw up and approve its internal Regulations.

To fulfill the stipulations of this article, the Committee shall adopt its Internal Regulations, which shall establish the necessary mechanisms for its organization and operation, as well as for the active participation of representatives of the private sector in its meetings.

Article 5.- The Andean Community General Secretariat shall act as the Committee’s Technical Secretariat.

Signed in the Quirama Recinto, Department of Antioquia, of the Republic of Colombia, on the twenty-fifth of June of two thousand three.