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| Report from the 1st Plenary Meeting Introduction: At the invitation of the Mexican Congress, the First Plenary Meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA) was held in Mexico City on March 14 and 15, 2002. More than 80 delegates from the national legislatures of 23 countries in the hemisphere participated in this important event in an atmosphere of cordiality and cooperation. The topic that guided discussions was security in the new millennium and the role of legislators in ensuring greater security in the hemisphere. Three working groups dealt with different perspectives on the central topic and a fourth one discussed the FTAA negotiating process, which will be a permanent subject at meetings of the Forum. Inaugural Session: The First Plenary Meeting of FIPA opened on Thursday, March 1 4 , 2002 at a special ceremony in the Fiesta Americana Reforma Hotel in Mexico City, attended by delegates from the various countries, political personalities from the Americas, members of the diplomatic corps and other special guests. Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette of Canada, Interim Chair of FIPA;the Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada; Senator Diego Fernández de Cevallos, Speaker of the Mexican Senate; Senator Silvia Hernández Enríquez, Chair of the Plenary Meeting; His Excellency Vicente Fox Quezada, President of Mexico, and His Excellency César Gaviria Trujillo, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, spoke at the opening ceremony.
After the opening ceremony, the work of the Plenary Meeting began. Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, Interim Chair of the Forum, welcomed the delegates and presided over the election of the Chair for the meeting. Election of the Chair of the Plenary Meeting: On a motion by the delegation from Guatemala, seconded by the delegation from St. Lucia, Mexican Senator Silvia Hernández Enríquez was elected Chair of the First Plenary Meeting of FIPA, by acclamation. Approval of the Working Agenda: The Chair of the meeting reviewed the preliminary agenda and the duties of the working groups. On a motion by the delegation from Canada, the delegates approved the working agenda. Report of the Chair of FIPA to the Plenary Meeting: The Interim Chair submitted the annual report of activities of FIPA, summarizing the work done by the Executive Committee and paying particular attention to progress on the Virtual Parliament of the Americas project. Election of the New Chair of FIPA: The Plenary Meeting considered the resignation of the Hon. Bill Graham as Chair of FIPA and proceeded to elect a new chair, pursuant to Article 2.3(g) of the Regulations. On a motion by the delegation from Argentina, seconded by St. Lucia, Peru, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Belize, Brazil and Chile, the Plenary Meeting elected Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette of Canada the new Chair of FIPA for a two year term, by acclamation. Amendments to the Regulations of FIPA: The motions proposed by the Executive Committee were submitted to the Plenary for consideration. After debate, the Plenary Meeting unanimously adopted seven motions and asked the Executive Committee to revise the motion concerning changes to procedures and submit it to consideration the following day. Formation of Working Groups: The Chair of the meeting explained the composition of the working groups, which are as follows: Working
Group 1 – Legal Instruments for Security Working
Group 2 – The Problem of Organized Crime Working
Group 3 – Migration and Borders Working
Group 4 – Negotiating Process for Free Trade Area of the Americas Other Business: The Chair of the meeting read a letter from the United States Senate Majority Leader, the Hon. Thomas Daschle, who sent greetings to the participants and expressed support for the First Plenary Meeting of FIPA, but apologized for not being able to attend. Update on Issues of Summit of the Americas and FTAA Negotiating Process: Marc Lortie, personal representative of the Prime Minister of Canada to the Summit of the Americas, made a presentation to the Plenary to inform legislators on the process to implement the Summit of the Americas, as well as the FTAA negotiation process. Mr. Lortie also spoke about the role that legislators can play in the process of implementing decisions of the Summit of the Americas and stressed the importance of FIPA as an integral part of the inter-American system and a cornerstone of the cooperation process. Final Session of the Plenary Meeting: After the working groups deliberated, the Plenary Meeting had its final session in the afternoon of Friday, March 15, 2002. The Plenary agreed to change the order of the agenda of the meeting and to start with the presentation on the Virtual Parliament project. Presentation of the Project for the Virtual Parliament of the Americas: Riff Fullan, representative of Bellanet International, presented the project for the Virtual Parliament of the Americas to the Plenary. He stated the project objectives and explained the role of the various institutions responsible for implementing the project. He also distributed a survey to obtain suggestions on how the system should run and to ascertain the information needs of parliamentarians. Adoption of a Motion to Amend Procedures: As agreed at the first session of the Plenary, a new version of the motion to amend the Regulations with respect to procedures was considered. Deputy Marcelo Stubrin of Argentina presented and explained the new wording of the document. The proposal was seconded by the delegations from Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, El Salvador and Canada and was finally passed unanimously. Presentation of Reports from Working Groups: The chairs of the working groups presented the reports on their deliberations and the related recommendations to the Plenary Meeting. Working Group 1 – Legal Instruments for Security Working Group 1 was chaired by Senator César Camacho of Mexico.The first session of this group focused on security. The second session analyzed the existing international legal instruments on security and those pending ratification and discussed the threat of terrorism as well as appropriate policies to deal with this problem. After debate, the Meeting approved the report and adopted the nine recommendations made by this group. Working Group 2 – The Problem of Organized Crime Working Group 2 was chaired by Louis Tull, Member of Parliament from Barbados. This working group focused on the issues of terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering. The participants shared their experiences in fighting these scourges and emphasized the need to ratify the international conventions on them. After debate, the Meeting approved the report and adopted the eleven recommendations made by this group. Working Group 3 – Migration and Borders Working Group 3 was chaired by Deputy Carlos Santiago Najera of Guatemala. The participants in this group discussed the general causes of population movements and the consequences for the countries of origin and destination. They also stressed the importance of updating regulations on population movement as part of the process of economic integration in the region. Working Group 4 – FTAA Negotiating Process Working Group 4 was chaired by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette of Canada. This group discussed the process of economic integration in the hemisphere and said that national legislatures must participate actively and effectively in the process of creating the FTAA. The group covered the various chapters of the summary of the basic document on the FTAA negotiations. The delegates also expressed their concern about the economic crisis in Argentina. In considering the recommendations, the Plenary Meeting unanimously decided to add to the recommendation on intellectual property rights. The delegation from Brazil, for its part, expressed concern about the issue of steel in the FTAA negotiations through a unilateral statement that it asked to be included in the report. After debate, the Meeting approved the report and adopted the recommendations made by this group. Election of the Executive Committee: The Plenary Meeting proceeded to elect the members of the Executive Committee. Each of the four subregions elected its representatives on the Committee by consensus and announced them to the Plenary. The following countries were elected to the Executive Committee for a term of two (2) years: North
America — Canada Host of the Next Plenary Meeting: The delegation from Panama reiterated the invitation made last year in Ottawa and submitted its proposal to be the host country for the next meeting of the Forum. The Plenary unanimously accepted this invitation and decided that the Plenary Meeting of FIPA in 2003 would be held in Panama. Pursuant to Article 2.3(b) of the FIPA Regulations, Panama as host country will have a representative on the Executive Committee for one year. Closing of the Plenary Meeting: Senator Hernández thanked the members of the Executive Committee for their contributions to the organization of the meeting, the administrative staff of Mexico and Canada for their cooperation during the event, and the delegates for their participation. Finally, the Chair declared the First Plenary Meeting of FIPA closed. Respectfully
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