MIAMI (CP) - Trade negotiators approved a draft text Wednesday outlining the world's largest free trade region, adopting a buffet-style version that allows countries to opt out of the more controversial clauses of the agreement, officials from the Brazilian delegation said.
That draft will be handed over to trade ministers from the 34 countries in the Americas, excluding Cuba. The ministers will begin two days of negotiations Thursday aimed at finalizing the text. The draft speaks in generalities and does not specify which areas that countries could opt out of.
Canada, Chile, Mexico and several Caribbean countries had pushed for a more specific text, circulating a compromise proposal that would have skirted the thorny issue of agricultural subsidies.
Canada is being represented at the talks by International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
In a statement released Wednesday, the Chilean government criticized the draft, saying it "will reduce the FTAA to a minimum."
But Regis Arslanian, a lead Brazilian negotiator, said Tuesday that his delegation succeeded in its desire to keep the original draft intact.
The aid group Oxfam International applauded the decision.
"The approval of the opt-in, opt-out version of the FTAA clearly is demonstrative of the new assertiveness of developing countries in trade negotiations," Oxfam spokesman Mark Fried said. "Brazil stood firm and showed that you can win by not buckling under the pressure of the United States."
Talks Tuesday slowed to a crawl, and the United States spent most of the day announcing that it planned to seek separate free trade agreements with five countries: Boliva, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. There was no public opposition to the U.S. plans within the FTAA, but Oxfam criticized the move as a way to strong-arm small countries.
Zoellick said the U.S. announcement didn't undermine the Miami talks.
"Some countries are willing to move more quickly, and for those who are willing to move more quickly, we want to try to achieve that end," Zoellick said.
The announcement was the latest step in U.S. attempts to integrate the region economically. Within the Americas, the United States has free trade agreements with Canada, Mexico and Chile, and is in the process of negotiating similar pacts with Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.
The FTAA proposal also is drawing criticism from anti-globalization activists, a mix of environmentalists and union activists. An estimated 20,000 or more protesters are expected to turn up for a march Thursday.
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