Pastrana backs Andean integration as "well-established, with clearly defined playing rules and legal security"

Lima, May 7. Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, in affirming that "we have a well-established, reliable integration system, with clearly-defined playing rules and serious commitments, endowed with legal security and stability," gave strong backing to the Andean Community.

Pastrana made this statement during the formal session held at the CAN General Secretariat headquarters and attended by members of the diplomatic corps, former Presidents of Peru, and other national leaders.

President Pastrana and CAN Secretary General Sebastián Alegrett, who gave the welcoming address, both hailed the political and economic breakthroughs of the Andean integration process, particularly the joint efforts in the external arena and on trade matters.

"More than three decades have been spent putting together a common undertaking that we cannot just scrap. On the contrary, our duty today is to build on the accomplishments of the last decade of the twentieth century," Pastrana pointed out, after emphasizing that "the force of the countries lies in the union of their efforts, potentials, and complementary advantages."

The Colombian leader brought up the need to strengthen the bodies of the Andean Integration System by making them fully operational and guaranteeing respect for their institutional nature and, in particular, complying with the decisions handed down by the Andean Court of Justice. "It is our duty to abide by the regional legislative system and to work toward its improvement," he stressed.

Pointing out that "Colombia is a nation that believes firmly in the benefits of integration, that has worked tirelessly for the future of the CAN, and that is fully committed to the process that unites us today," he went on to add that "Integration is far more than just customs duties and tariffs."

"The integration that we seek for the Andean countries is the integration that we agreed upon in Cartagena and ratified in Lima, with a Common Foreign Policy and with a living and dynamic Social Agenda," the head of state underscored.

Pastrana and Alegrett both highlighted the common position coordinated in Cartagena in support of extending and broadening the Andean Tariff Preferences Act (ATPA) and including Venezuela in its benefits, which was presented to President Bush in Quebec.

They both also referred to the Andean Strategy for the control of Drugs and Related Offenses. "Not only is it called upon to reinforce national programs, but also to become one of the core elements of Andean common foreign policy," Alegrett maintained.

The Secretary General emphasized the advances made in negotiations between CAN and the Mercosur aimed at the start-up of a free trade area by January 2002 and stressed that the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) "cannot be attained through mere adherences, but must be the result of balanced negotiations between countries with very different economic and social conditions."

Pastrana and Alegrett agreed upon the importance of the governments’ political will in boosting the measures that will make it possible to achieve the goal of putting an Andean Common Market in place by 2005.

The Colombian President considered the leaders of the five countries to be responsible for "viewing integration not as a process that is moving ahead by inertia, but as an essential objective that produces more benefits than problems and that we must care for and encourage."

Alegrett asked the heads of state for their collaboration in advancing the initiatives on the free circulation of persons, integration and border development policies, the common agricultural policy, and the "adoption of a new and modern Common External Tariff that will consolidate the customs union."

Pastrana’s presence at the Andean Community headquarters was part of the Colombian President’s three-day visit to Lima in support of the democratic process ushered in by the transition government of Peruvian President Valentín Paniagua.