Reciprocity in the FTAA: The Roles of Market Access, Institutions and Negotiating Capacity

The benefits of the FTAA to Latin American countries will materialize through two channels: improved access to the region's markets, and enhanced growth prospects through the strengthening of basic economic institutions. Furthermore, the importance of these negotiations is heightened by the fact that they are taking place against the failure of the Uruguay Round to liberalize agricultural trade, and the lack of progress in the ongoing negotiations of the Doha round. Under these conditions for Latin American countries, who are net exporters of different bundles of agricultural products, the FTAA could be the best opportunity for accelerating growth in the region. The analysis includes a discussion of these issues stressing the fact that in order for the reciprocal exchange of concessions agreed in the FTAA to result in an important liberalization of intra-regional trade, Latin American countries will have to negotiate with greater firmness than in the past.