Hemispheric trade ministers wrapped up informal talks Friday after taking a hard look at the political, economic and social problems clouding the negotiations for a future Free Trade Area of the Americas.
A senior U.S. trade official said no decisions were made at the daylong talks at the Wye River Conference Center, an isolated and bucolic 1,100-acre farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
The official said that the trade ministers from 14 countries were committed to finalizing an accord by January 2005 but that the meeting was not to decide on whether to scale back the ambitions of the trade accord, a solution suggested by some countries as a way to overcome the numerous difficulties facing the negotiations.
Convened by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, the meeting was attended by trade ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago.
Enrique Iglesias, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, also attended the closed-door session, which began with a private dinner Thursday.
The talks excluded 20 of the countries involved in the 34-nation trade project.
During much of the discussions, each minister was allowed to describe the current problems facing the individual countries -- from the weakening economies and financial constraints to the growing social unrest that threatens to destabilize several governments.
''It is extremely important to be able to understand from each other what was possible and achievable,'' the official said. ``There was certainly a very frank and candid discussion among the ministers about where we are now compared to where we need to be by 2005.''
The range of problems facing most of the governments -- such as financial implosions in places like Argentina and a weakening of support for elected officials -- are problems that were not even conceived of when the FTAA was launched in 1994.
Time was also spent on the unresolved issue of how small and weak economies can prepare for opening their borders to more imports, especially in the Caribbean, where some governments depend almost entirely on import duties for federal revenue.
The U.S. official said the goal of the daylong conversation was also to energize the ministers for the Nov. 21 meeting of trade ministers scheduled to be held in Miami.
Brazil and the United States will co-chair this final phase of negotiations.
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