It is essential to find better opportunities to access markets for alternative development products, in the context of international trade negotiations;

Decision 458 on Common Foreign Policy Guidelines identifies as one of its objectives to take joint steps to fight the worldwide drug problem, which, under the shared responsibility principle, and based on a multilateral focus, will promote international cooperation with regard to all aspects of the problem; and among others, for the development of alternative crops;

As part of the implementation of Decision 505, which approves the Andean Cooperation Plan for the Fight Against Illegal Drugs and Related Crimes, the Executive Committee gave priority to the preparation of an Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy;

National alternative development policies and strategies must be complemented through cooperation and coordination at the community level, to achieve a higher degree of effectiveness and sustainability in their application, mitigating the effects of the transport of illegal crops between the Andean Community Member Countries;

The Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA), created by Decision 549, in its Fifth Meeting held on June 22 and 23, 2004, resolved to prepare a comprehensive and sustainable development strategy for the Andean Region, to be presented within the framework of the Sixteenth Regular Meeting of the Andean Presidential Council;

The First Special Meeting of CADA, held on September 9 and 10, 2004, in the City of Bogota, Colombia, defined the basic strategic objectives, principles, goals and elements for the preparation of an Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy;

The Second Special Meeting of CADA, held in City of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on June 23 and 24, 2005, technically defined the contents of the elements of an Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy, to which effect, it carried out a prior and broad consultation process involving the Governments of the Member Countries, local authorities, associations and farmer organizations from the areas where alternative development programs and projects are carried out;

The General Secretariat has submitted Proposal 151/Rev. 1 on the Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy;

Article 2.- The Strategy’s principles are the following:

a) Respect the national sovereignty of each Andean Community Member Country and treat the Strategy as a State policy.

b) Contribute to the pacification and stabilization of the target areas described in the Annex, offering dignified economic and living alternatives to the beneficiary communities, mainly through horizontal integration with sectorial policies, programs and projects, aiming to maximize the impact of the actions carried out.

c) Attach a preventive character, not only focused on the communities and areas affected by illegal crop cultivation, but also on those facing the threat of this problem, in all Member Countries.

d) Strengthen the active participation of the beneficiary communities and local governments, getting them involved in the processes associated with Member Countries’ alternative development projects.

e) Respect national diversity, autonomy and specific traits, as well as ethnic minorities and communities located in the areas covered by the Strategy.

f) Be developed in areas having the minimum conditions of safety, governance and communications, to promote boosting of local development; where the beneficiary communities are able and willing to accept the condition to eradicate and not plant illegal crops again, this being a major characteristic of alternative development.

g) Support the recovery, preservation and management of protected areas affected by the problems of illegal crop cultivation.

h) Be executed within the framework of integral strategies in the fight against illegal drugs, where eradication efforts, prohibitions and other actions aiming at ensuring law enforcement, will support the systematic elimination of acts related to the cultivation of illegal crops, mainly those promoted by organizations which are not necessarily within the scope of law.

i) Be supported on Andean solidarity, giving priority to aspects in which joint work will lead to achieve more progress than if done individually by each Member Country.

j) Reaffirm the principle of shared responsibility, highlighting the higher relative cost incurred by the Andean countries in the fight against illegal drugs, and the trends to reduce contributions to development and international cooperation by the countries with high levels of consumption. This principle must translate into actions of the consumer countries oriented at fighting the demand for illegal drugs, as well as higher financial, technical and commercial cooperation for projects and products deriving from alternative development.

Article 3.- The general criteria of the Strategy is the following:

a) Interact with other community development plans and programs, at the national and sectorial levels (cooperating with the attainment of their objectives and getting feedback, under territorial administration criteria), including international negotiations.

b) Have comprehensive vision, including institutional, social, economic and environmental aspects.

c) Must have immediate and short term actions, having a demonstrative effect, while at the same time directing efforts towards structural actions and projects.

d) Must have elements which will provide endurance through time (medium and long term effort); thus, it must be participative (at all public levels of civil society) and provide institutional, legal and financial security, and further guarantee the adequate exploitation of natural resources.

e) It must focus on the agricultural frontier areas (containment areas), as well as on the strategic ecosystems, affected or threatened by the cultivation of illegal crops, which location and geographic and socio-economic conditions offer potential for local development.

f) It must be participative, to which effect, it must have the political and economic backing and commitment of the national, provincial and local governments.

g) Enhance and take advantage of the financial resources, information and know how, experience and human capital existing in the areas covered or in other alternative development projects, which may be repeated or expanded, promoting as well the use of incentives.

Article 4.- The general objective of the Strategy is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and to achieve social cohesion in the Member Countries, in the target areas defined in this Strategy, by establishing policy guidelines, conceptual focusing and goals and indicators, to direct efforts towards alternative development actions and projects, implemented within the scope of national and community policies on this area, with an integral and sustainable approach.

Article 5.- The following are the specific objectives of the Strategy:

1. In the institutional sphere

a) Promote the active coordination of State institutions and the Andean Community – through their organizations, institutions, programs and projects ‑, in order to obtain common synergies and objectives, strengthen local governance and the participation of the communities in the target areas of the Member Countries’ alternative development.

b) Establish effective and efficient horizontal cooperation mechanisms for the exchange of experiences and technical assistance between the Member Countries, especially between the communities benefiting from alternative development.

c) Arrange for a community system and its corresponding national information, evaluation, follow up and monitoring systems, as tools that will facilitate transparency and support to decision making processes.

2 In the social sphere

a) Strengthen social organizations, to add dynamism to the generation and consolida­tion of base communities and to generate social capital, to deal with the communities’ social problems and to improve their participation in the local development.

b) Assist in the implementation of national development strategies, particularly with policies relating to the fight against rural poverty.

c) Create awareness in society, especially in people located in the target areas in the Member Countries, about the harmful effects of illegal crops and drugs, and about the importance of alternative development as a response to this phenomenon’s structural causes.

d) Make sure the actions of alternative development and the projects carried out in the Andean Community have a gender focus and contribute to the recognition and valuation of social diversity.

3 In the economic sphere

a) Reduce the incidence of illegal economies, by reducing and preventing the increase of illegal crop cultivation and by controlling its migration to new areas, between and within the Member Countries (the so-called “balloon effect”).

b) Promote and direct efforts towards the active participation - in coordination with national governments - of multilateral, regional and national development organizations and agencies, in alternative development projects and initiatives, within the scope of the Strategy, especially with respect to resource management.

c) Ensure the construction and maintenance of basic infrastructure in the alternative development target areas, to facilitate processes for the production and marketing of agricultural and agro-industrial goods, as well as of the services promoted in the Member Countries’ target areas.

d) Support horizontal cooperation between research centers, universities and other pertinent institutions to improve access to science and technology for alternative development beneficiaries in the Andean Community.

e) Promote legal access to land ownership by beneficiaries, through the purchase and legalization of land titles.

f) Promote associative ways of collaboration and cooperation, at the level of producers, private sector, institutions and national agencies for the promotion of exports, and financial organizations, among others, which will facilitate the accomplishment of true access to national and international markets for alternative development products, subject to the corresponding community and national rules and commitments.

g) Contribute to the sustained funding of alternative development in the Andean Community, through the use of innovative instruments, in line with the socio-economic reality of the beneficiary population, taking into consideration access to both investment banking systems and capital markets, as well as strategic alliances with the private sector, and the use of instruments such as debt exchange and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), among others.

4 In the environmental sphere

a) Support the preservation, recovery and sustainable exploitation of natural resources, especially those found in strategic ecosystems, dampening zones and natural park areas.

b) Support the implementation of better environmental practices, clean technology, organic production systems and agro-forestry and minimum tillage models, among others, which will ensure an adequate exploitation of natural resources and improve access to fair trade markets.

Article 6.- The Andean Committee for Alternative Development (CADA) will perform the follow up on the Action Plan shown in this Decision’s Annex, in such manner as to ensure the application of the Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy and to promote its development and enhancement.

In coordination with the Executive Committee of the Cooperation Plan for the Fight Against Illegal Drugs and Related Crimes, through the Andean Community’s General Secretariat, CADA will recommend to the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and to the Andean Community Commission, to pass the necessary community legislation for the implementation of the Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy’s Action Plan in the respective areas of jurisdiction.

Article 7.- With the knowledge of the Executive Committee of the Cooperation Plan for the Fight Against Illegal Drugs and Related Crimes, CADA will report on an annual basis to the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, through the Andean Community’s General Secretariat, on the progress made in the implementation of the Integral and Sustainable Alternative Development Andean Strategy.

Article 8.- In coordination with the Executive Committee of the Cooperation Plan for the Fight Against Illegal Drugs and Related Crimes, through the Andean Community’s General Secretariat, within a five-year term counted as from the effective date of this Decision, CADA will propose its updating to the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Given in the City of Lima, Peru, on this 15th day of the month of July, 2005.