Report from the 2nd Plenary Meeting
Panama 2003
Introduction
The
Second Plenary Meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas
(FIPA) was held on February 20 and 21, 2003, in Panama City, at the kind
invitation of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Panama. Ninety
parliamentarians from the national legislatures of 18 countries in the
Americas participated in this important event (see the list of delegates
in Annex 1).
The main
theme for discussion was "Challenges and Opportunities for Hemispheric
Integration", which was broached from different angles in three working
groups.
The agenda
was complemented by presentations from six special guests on subjects
of interest to the parliamentarians, i.e. the Summit of the Americas process,
the importance of the International Criminal Court, the process of negotiating
the FTAA, international cooperation to combat terrorism, the work of the
OAS in consolidating the democratic process in the Americas and the scope
of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
Opening
Ceremony
The Second Plenary Meeting of FIPA was officially opened at a special
ceremony held at the El Panama Hotel, the venue of the event, on Thursday,
February 20, 2003.
Legislator Marco Ameglio of Panama, Chair of the Second Plenary Meeting,
Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette of Canada, Chair of FIPA, Legislator
Alcibíades Vásquez, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
of Panama, and Her Excellency Mireya Moscoso, President of the Republic
of Panama, spoke at the opening ceremony (see the texts of the addresses
in Annex 2).
The ceremony was attended by delegates from the different countries, members
of the diplomatic corps accredited to Panama, representatives from international
organizations, prominent politicians and other special guests.
Presentations
to the Plenary Meeting
Presentations at the Opening Session
After the opening ceremony, three guest speakers made presentations to
the plenary meeting. The first was the Canadian Ambassador to the Organization
of American States (OAS), His Excellency Paul Durand, who informed the
FIPA parliamentarians about the progress made in the Process of the Summit
of the Americas (see the text in Annex 3).
Next, Senator Jimmy Chamorro of Colombia talked about the establishment
of the International Criminal Court and the importance of ratifying the
Rome Statute (see the text in Annex 4).
Last, Ms. Nivia Rossana Castrellón, Legislator Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Panama gave a presentation on the process of trade integration
under the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Ms. Castrellón
stressed aspects such as the impact of the FTAA on the Latin American
economies, the importance of parliamentary participation in the process
and the establishment of a hemispheric cooperation program (see the text
in Annex 5).
Guest
Speakers
During the noon breaks, three background speakers complemented the working
agenda of the plenary meeting. First, Senator Germán Várgas
of Colombia discussed the subject of international cooperation in the
fight against terrorism.
Second, Ms. Elizabeth Spehar, Executive Coordinator of the Unit for the
Promotion of Democracy (UPD) of the OAS, presented an account of the efforts
made by the organization to consolidate the democratic process in the
Americas, through initiatives such as FIPA and the Inter-American Forum
on Political Parties. (see the full text in Annex 6).
The third speaker was His Excellency Juan Manuel Castulovich, Panamanian
Ambassador to the OAS, who spoke about the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
First
Session of the Plenary Meeting
After the presentations at the opening session, the work of the meeting
got under way. The Chair of FIPA, Senator Hervieux-Payette, submitted
the working agenda to the meeting for consideration, which was approved
unanimously (see the working agenda in Annex 7).
Election
of the Chair of the Plenary Meeting
Senator Hervieux-Payette presided over the election of the Chair of the
plenary meeting. On a motion by the Mexican delegation, seconded by the
Canadian delegation, Legislator Marco Ameglio of Panama was unanimously
elected Chair of the Second Plenary Meeting of FIPA.
Report
by the Chair of FIPA
The Chair of FIPA, Senator Hervieux-Payette, presented the annual report
on activities to the plenary, summarizing the work done by the Executive
Committee and the efforts made to consolidate the institution (see the
text in Annex 8).
Establishment
of Working Groups
The Chair of the meeting explained the make-up of the working groups,
which were established as follows:
Working
Group No. 1 - The interaction of tax policy and trade, economic growth
and social development
Chair: Senator Silvia Hernández (Mexico)
Facilitators: Dr. Alberto Barreix (Inter-American Development Bank - IDB)
Dr. Claudino Pita (Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations - CIAT)
Rapporteur: Mr. Steve Griner (Organization of American States - OAS)
Working
Group No. 2 - The impact of economic and financial crises in the region
Chair: Congressman Marcelo Stubrin (Argentina)
Facilitators: Dr. Roberto Frenkel (Government and Social Studies Centre
- CEDES)
Rapporteur: Mr. Jorge Calderón (Organization of American States
- OAS)
Working
Group No. 3 -Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations
Chair: MP John Godfrey (Canada)
Facilitators: Dr. Peter E. Kirby (Fasken-Martineau Dumoulin, Montreal)
Rapporteur: Mr. Cesar Parga (Organization of American States - OAS)
Establishment
of the Group of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas
On Friday, February 21, the women parliamentarians of FIPA held a working
breakfast to discuss the motion presented by the Argentine delegation
on the creation of a Group of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas.
The meeting was chaired by Argentine Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer
and was attended by the Chair of FIPA, Senator Hervieux-Payette, 25 women
parliamentarians from different member countries of the Forum and the
Director of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy of the OAS, Elizabeth
Spehar.
As a result of the meeting, a proposed resolution was drafted to be presented
to the plenary for approval to establish a group of women parliamentarians
of the Americas, which would be coordinated by two parliamentarians from
each of the subregions (North America, Central America, the Caribbean
and South America), as a permanent action group under FIPA (see the executive
summary of the meeting in Annex 9).
Recognition
of the Secretary General of the OAS
During the special ceremony held on Friday, February 21, the Chair of
FIPA presented a resolution whereby the parliamentarians of the Americans
recognized the fundamental role played by the General Secretariat of the
OAS in launching a process that culminated in the establishment of FIPA.
The resolution also contained express recognition of His Excellency César
Gaviria Trujillo for his contribution to strengthening the role of the
legislative branch in democracies in the Americas.
Ms. Elizabeth Spehar received the resolution, signed by the members of
the Executive Committee of FIPA, on behalf of the Secretary General of
the (see the resolution in Annex 10).
Final
Session of the Plenary Meeting
After the deliberations of the working groups, the Second Plenary Meeting
held its final session in the afternoon of Friday, February 21, 2003.
The following business was dealt with.
Presentation
on the Virtual Parliament of the Americas Project
Mr. Shady Kanfi, representative of Bellanet International, made a presentation
summarizing progress in the project on the Virtual Parliament of the Americas.
He discussed the work to update FIPA's web site, which includes all of
the Forum's documentation and institutional memory. He presented the virtual
workspace, created to support the work of FIPA's Executive Committee,
which can be used for all communications by the committee's members, including
the circulation of documents and discussion of proposals, etc. He also
reported on the virtual meeting held by several members of the Executive
Committee, through the chat module, which had simultaneous translation
in three languages to allow for a discussion of topics on the FIPA agenda.
Lastly, he stressed the importance of participation by FIPA members in
the development of this tool, which will provide continuity for the work
of the forum through the Internet, serve as a portal for access to useful
information and facilitate on-line discussions by parliamentarians, etc.
Motion by the Colombian Delegation to Establish a Working Group on
Terrorism
Colombian Congresswoman Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez proposed a motion
to the plenary meeting recommending the establishment of a working group
on terrorism. The group's main objectives would be to follow up on collective
mechanisms for the fight against terrorism and promote compliance with
international hemispheric commitments made in this field.
After discussion, the motion was unanimously approved (see the text of
the motion in Annex 11).
Resolution
on the Establishment of the Group of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas
Argentine Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer presented a resolution for
consideration by the plenary on the establishment of the Group of Women
Parliamentarians of the Americas, under FIPA. The resolution was unanimously
approved (see the text of the motion in Annex 12).
Resolution
on the Crisis in Iraq
MP John Godfrey of Canada presented a proposed resolution to the plenary
regarding the Iraq crisis, in which the parliamentarians of the Americas
expressed their concern over the threat to world peace posed by the crisis.
The parliamentarians discussed the wording of the text, and after the
debate, the resolution was unanimously approved (see the text of the motion
in Annex 13).
Presentation
of the Reports of the Working Groups
The chairs of the working groups summarized the deliberations of their
groups and presented the final reports to the plenary. All the working
groups had documents prepared by the guest experts to use as the basis
for discussion, which were available at FIPA's web site (www.e-FIPA.org).
Working
Group 1 - The interaction of tax policy and trade, economic growth
and social development
Senator Silvia Hernández of Mexico chaired Working Group 1. At
it's first session two presentations were made by the guest experts: "Harmonization
and tax systems in the Americas" by Dr. Claudino Pita, and "The
challenges of tax policy related to regional economic integration"
by Dr. Alberto Barreix.
At the second session, the parliamentarians presented their views, asked
the experts questions and established group positions on this topic. The
parliamentarians agreed on the importance of keeping tax aspects in mind
in the process of trade integration and the need for legislatures to participate
actively in that process.
(See the text of the report and the recommendations of Working Group 1
in Annex 14.)
Working
Group 2 - The impact of economic and financial crises in the region
Working Group 2 was chaired by Congressman Marcelo Stubrin of Argentina,
with Dr. Roberto Frenkel as the guest expert, who made a presentation
entitled "Globalization and financial crises in Latin America".
After the presentation, the parliamentarians expressed their views on
this subject and agreed on several recommendations related to seeking
solutions to the problems presented.
(See the text of the report and the recommendations of Working Group 2
in Annex 15.)
Working
Group 3 - The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations
MP John Godfrey of Canada chaired Working Group 3, with Mr. Peter Kirby
presenting an update on the FTAA process, including the most recent developments
in the negotiations.
Aside from reiterating the recommendations made by FIPA in the two earlier
plenaries, the group formulated recommendations on the FTAA negotiation
process. It also suggested various initiatives to the Executive Committee
with respect to following up on those recommendations.
(See the text of the report and the recommendations of Working Group 3
in Annex 16.)
Election
of the Members of the Executive Committee for the Period 2002 - 2004
The plenary proceeded to elect the members of the Executive Committee
for the period 2002 to 2004. The four subregions elected their Executive
Committee Members as follows:
On a motion by the Canadian delegation, Senator Silvia Hernández
of Mexico was re-elected as the Executive Committee Member for North America.
For Central America, Congressman Mario Calderón of Costa Rica was
elected on a motion by the Salvadoran delegation, seconded by the Guatemalan
delegation.
For the Caribbean, Congressman Urick Saint-Cyr of Haiti was elected on
a motion by Jamaica.
On a motion by the Brazilian delegation, seconded by the delegations of
Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, Congressman Marcelo Stubrin of Argentina
was re-elected as the Executive Committee Member for South America.
(See the membership of the Executive Committee in Annex 17.)
Host
Country for the Next Plenary Meeting
The Argentine delegation proposed Chile as the host of the Third Plenary
Meeting of FIPA, a motion that was seconded by the Peruvian delegation.
In addition to backing the Argentine proposal, the Brazilian delegation
proposed its own country to host the plenary meeting in 2005.
Chile was chosen by acclamation as the host for the next Plenary Meeting
and, pursuant to Article 2.3(b) of the FIPA Regulations, as host country,
Chile will have a parliamentarian on the Executive Committee for one year.
Close
of the Second Plenary Meeting
The Chair of the meeting thanked all the delegates for their participation
and their contributions to the deliberations. Senator Hervieux-Payette
thanked Legislator Marco Ameglio and the members of the Executive Committee
for their contributions to the organization of the meeting and the administrative
staff of Panama for organizing the event. The Chair then declared the
Second Plenary Meeting of FIPA closed.
