OTTAWA (AFP) - Senior Canadian officials insisted that Ottawa still hopes for a successful conclusion of a Free Trade Area of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) by January 2005.
The plan is for such an agreement to cover 34 countries in the hemisphere, with only Cuba left out.
But officials admitted major hurdles remain.
Briefing journalists before the November 20-21 round of FTAA negotiations by trade ministers from the 34 countries, one official said major problems include the thorny question of free trade in agriculture, investment rules, the services sector and the possible need for protection from some aspects of free trade for the smaller island nations in the Caribbean.
Although not directly included in the trade negotiations so far, the ministers will also have to discuss the possibility of including labour and environmental protection rules, similar to annexes already attached to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which embraces Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Despite all these problems, Canadian International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement Monday: "The Americas region represents Canada's most important market and strengthening our economic ties through the FTAA is a priority."
Many observers believe however that agreement by January 2005 is virtually impossible, largely because of next year's presidential and congressional elections in the United States.
According to Canada's federal statistics agency, Canada's trade exports in 2002 to Latin America, excluding Mexico, totaled 3.7 billion dollars (2.8 billion US dollars), while total imports in 2002 from those countries reached 6.9 billion (5.2 billion US dollars).
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