Odeen Ishmael, Contributor 
Fidel Castro, president of Cuba. - File
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:
EVER SINCE the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks reached a deadlock early last year, the Brazilian and American co-chairs of the Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) tried unsuccessfully on three occasions to restart the process.
But the stalemate has continued over conflicting positions as to how the FTAA should be shaped, all of which have resulted in a lack of consensus building on controversial issues.
Some countries, notably Brazil and the CARICOM countries, argue that issues such as agricultural subsidies and dispute settlement should be handled in the FTAA negotiations and not within the WTO, as some others, particularly the United States, prefer. At the same time, there are major differences between Brazil and the United States regarded as the largest economies on crucial FTAA issues.
For example, Brazil wants to exclude from the FTAA talks issues on investment, services, government procurement, and intellectual property.
Brazil has traditionally resisted going beyond WTO commitments in these areas. On the other hand, the United States desires to discuss investment, services, government procurement, and intellectual property within the FTAA, while insisting that domestic agricultural subsidies and anti-dumping should be dealt with by the WTO.
In a major initiative, the co-chairs of the TNC, Ambassador Adhemar Bahadian of Brazil and acting U.S. trade representative Peter Allgeier, held consultations on February 22-23 in Washing-ton, D.C. on how to advance the negotiations.
FAILED MEETING
According to a brief statement they issued, the meeting centred on discussions among FTAA countries following the failed TNC meeting in Puebla, Mexico, in February 2004. They added that their meeting made progress and that before they meet again on March 29-30 they would consult informally with the other countries.
There is now guarded optimism that they will make a breakthrough at the upcoming month-end meeting, leading to the reconvening of the FTAA negotiations at least by May. But as time stretches on, it remains doubtful that the negotiators will be able to reach final agreement to formally establish the free trade area before the end of 2005.
Details about what was discussed by the co-chairs are seeping out slowly. It is understood that they made significant progress on market access concerns in the contentious area of agriculture. At previous TNC meetings, Brazil, a major agricultural producer and exporter, consistently argued for the elimination of export subsidies and made proposals for addressing domestic price supports.
There is indication that the co-chairs were not very successful in reaching an agreement on the problematic issue of intellectual property. This was hinted by Ambassador Bahadian who told the media on February 24, that intellectual property continued to be a most difficult issue in the FTAA negotiations.
Meanwhile, a new dimension has developed in the FTAA scenario. An Associated Press report on March 2, revealed that during the recent swearing-in of the new Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez, Cuba asked to become an associate member of Mercosur.
For Cuba to be accepted, the full members Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have to agree by consensus. Other associate members are Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Both Guyana and Suriname are also considering seeking associate membership as well.
If Cuba is accepted as an associate member of Mercosur, it can present complications for the U.S. in the FTAA talks. The U.S. and the other 33 members of the proposed FTAA have never considered Cuba as part of the process initiated and propelled by the Summit of the Americas.
CUBA MAY HAVE SOME INFLUENCE
But, by becoming an associate member of Mercosur, Cuba, at least indirectly, may have some influence in how the FTAA is finally formulated. And with Venezuela's interest in upgrading its current own associate membership of Mercosur to full membership, Cuba, as its close political ally, can be drawn even closer into the process.
Actually, over the years, hemispheric political leaders have privately talked about 'advantages' of including Cuba in the FTAA. Certainly, with Cuba being a trade partner of every country in the Americas including some states of the U.S. many of them wonder why Cuba, with a large viable market of 10 million people, should be excluded from the trade pact.
Trade relations should not be hampered by ideology and political systems, and if democracy is a qualification, many now question why Haiti is still included in the FTAA process.
Odeen Ishmael is Guyana's Ambassador to Venezuela.
