Sucre Protocol deepening Andean integration enters into effect today

Lima, April 14, 2003. Today, the Sucre Protocol comes into force. With the introduction of substantial amendments to the existing text of the Cartagena Agreement and the adoption of new mechanisms, integration may be deepened in the new areas of Community endeavor.

Ecuador’s deposit of the final instrument of ratification at the Andean Community General Secretariat (CAN) today completed the process for the entry into effect of this Protocol Amending the Cartagena Agreement.

CAN Secretary General, Guillermo Fernández de Soto, underscored the fact that the ratification of the Sucre Protocol "consolidates the Andean Community’s institutional structure and deepens subregional integration in the areas of social matters, common foreign policy and the common market.” “New chapters and articles are thereby incorporated into the Agreement, making it possible to accommodate and enrich the existing integration mechanisms,” he pointed out.

This international legal instrument adds a new article to the Cartagena Agreement that is aimed at attaining the development objectives of the Andean people by involving the Ministers of the social areas in integration tasks. These programs encompass education, employment and social participation, among other things.

It also opens up the possibility for the CAN to grant Associate Membership status to countries with which the Andean nations have entered into free trade agreements and that wish to belong to this integration group.

By providing for the approval of a general framework of principles and rules to bring about the liberalization of intrasubregional trade in services, the Sucre Protocol lays the necessary legal groundwork for the development of the service sector, which, because it generates over 75% of GDP and accounts for almost 80% of total employment, is considered decisive for the advancement of the Andean countries.

A transitory provision of the Sucre Protocol for temporary application became the legal basis for Decision 414, containing a Tariff Reduction Program between Peru and the rest of the Member Countries, in that way allowing for Peru to be incorporated into the free trade area.

It was Ecuador’s Ambassador to Peru, Luis Narváez Rivadeneira, who deposited the Instrument of Ratification at the General Secretariat. At the same time, he also delivered the documents ratifying the Additional Protocol to the Cartagena Agreement, the “Andean Community Commitment to Democracy,” and the Protocol Replacing the Simón Rodríguez Convention on social and labor matters.