Foreign Ministers approve establishment of Andean Passport and provisions to facilitate the unimpeded circulation of people in the Subregion

Valencia, June 23, 2001. Creation of the Andean Passport and the recognition of national identification documents as the sole requirement for travel as a tourist between the five countries of the Subregion, were two of the important decisions approved in the context of the Presidential Summit being held in Valencia (Venezuela).

This announcement was made by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso Dávila, in reporting on the agreements reached at the Meeting of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers that today concluded its deliberations in preparation for the Thirteenth Andean Presidential Summit, which was inaugurated today.

Dávila pointed out that the two decisions adopted on the circulation of people will "facilitate the unhampered traffic of the Subregion’s inhabitants and constitute a major step forward in the construction of the Common Market."

The Andean Passport may be used by the citizens of the CAN member countries in their foreign travel and will enter into use by December 31, 2005, at the latest.

This document will be based on a standardized model. The words "Andean Community" will appear in the upper portion of the cover page, under which the national shield of the issuing country and its official name will be entered, among other features of this document.

The purpose of this provision is to strengthen the Andean identity, lay the groundwork for an integration culture, and promote the unity of the Community and the international identification of the CAN as a group of nations committed to a common undertaking, Foreign Minister Dávila explained.

The second decision establishes that the citizens of any of the five Subregional countries can travel to another Andean country as tourists merely by presenting their national identification documents, with no need for a Consular visa, starting on January 1, 2002.

This provision on the "Recognition of National Identification Documents in the CAN" was approved for the two-fold purpose of "overcoming the existing barriers to people’s circulation and promoting tourism in the Subregion," stated Foreign Minister Dávila.

According to this Community provision, tourists are persons who enter a country "with no desire to establish their residence there" and who, for that reason, cannot engage in gainful activity, except in compliance with the stipulations of temporary immigration provisions or of border integration agreements between the five countries.

In order to settle any possible problems that may arise in regard to the length of stay of tourists, the immigration authorities of each CAN member country will require the presentation of the Andean Immigration Card as the "sole administrative document, in which the authorized length of stay should be entered."

The commitment is also established to not submit tourists to further controls than those that have been established "for stays of up to a period of 90 days, which may be extended only once for a like period of time."

A temporary clause of this provision stipulates that if upon the entry into effect of this Decision –January 2002— any CAN member country continues to require tourists from any other country in the Subregion to obtain a Consular visa, that requirement "will be eliminated by December 31, 2004, at the latest."

CAN Secretary General Sebastián Alegrett, in his opening address at the Thirteenth Andean Presidential Summit, hailed the two decisions as a "milestone in the process of Subregional integration" and stated that "they contribute decisively toward clearing the way for the Common Market."