Transparency Issues Continue to Pursue US-Chile FTA Negotiations

  
Chile and the United States completed the ninth round of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement on December 4. As scheduled, the "final round" of negotiations will be held in Santiago during the week of January 21. It appears that the negotiations are on track to conclude the agreement early this year. Contacts have been moving ahead by telephone and video conferencing to assure the necessary progress at what is hoped to be the last round of talks.

At the same time, civil society groups in Chile and the United States continue to complain about the lack of public discussion of the content or the impact of the free trade agreement. This has increased concerns that the agreement will not recognize environmental, labor and developmental needs of Chile or the United States. Several groups in Chile and in the United States have demanded the release of the negotiating text and public discussion of the content. It is not clear as yet if protests will occur in Santiago like the symbolic protest that was held at the University of Miami during the most recent round of talks. Another question that has not been clarified is the position of the local trade union movement in Chile, the CUT. This organization has been cited by Chilean negotiators as supporting the current FTA negotiations.

In Washington, the Alliance for Responsible Trade, the group that organized demonstrations at the last sessions in Miami, has released a letter to the US government. Its main focus is the issue of transparency of the broader Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, but it highlights similar concerns with respect to the US-Chile agreement. In the letter, this coalition of civil society and labor organizations states: "In this country, we believe that the U.S. government must demonstrate leadership in engaging the American public in open dialogues and debates on the FTAA. We therefore reiterate our request that you and your colleagues in USTR conduct well-publicized public forums on the FTAA negotiations in every state in this country. These events should include reports from negotiators on the current state of the FTAA talks, as well as ample time for discussion with members of the audience on their concerns and proposals."

These types of forums have been held in Santiago with the full support of the Chilean government. Once again, the US is behind the curve on this question of transparency.