Lima, Dec. 10, 08.- The Ministers of Trade and of Agriculture of the Andean Community Member Countries made the establishment of the first CAN financial mechanism a reality by approving the Regulations of the Fund for Rural Development and Agricultural Productivity. 

The Regulations of that Fund were approved today, at midday, during the Sixth Enlarged Meeting of the CAN Commission with the Ministers of Agriculture, held in Lima, with the participation of the Ministers of Trade and of Agriculture of the Andean countries --by videoconference-- and of representatives of the Consultative Council of the Andean Community Indigenous Peoples and the CAN General Secretariat.   

The purpose of the Fund is to finance initiatives presented by producers’ associations, communities, NGOs and public institutions that would be considered experiences for replication in the CAN Member Countries and that would promote the creation of synergetic relationships among the different actors in the sector.    

With seed capital amounting to 700 thousand dollars, the Fund will be enlarged through cooperation resources and contributions from the countries.  It will become a permanent Community mechanism to serve initiatives designed to promote agricultural and rural development in the CAN countries.   

In underscoring the importance of the approved legislation, the CAN Secretary General, Freddy Ehlers, stated that the Fund is the CAN’s first financial mechanism and that it will make it possible to promote the rural areas comprehensively and equitably, guaranteeing food security and agricultural development.

In its first year of operation, it will finance production projects in the Andean Community Member Countries.  A public tender will accordingly be called and the projects submitted will be evaluated by a committee made up of representatives of the Andean countries and of the CAN General Secretariat.   

The Fund was established in July 2005 through Decision 621. The regulations approved today specify who is eligible to submit projects, how this should be done, who will be responsible for administering the resources, who will guarantee and select the projects and what criteria will be used for that selection, among other requirements and procedures.