The OAS and TRADE
The Trade Section of the DTT supports the efforts of Member States to promote economic diversification and integration, trade liberalization, and market access that can lead, through expanded market and investment opportunities, to enhanced economic development, job creation, and poverty reduction. Read more...

WHAT WE DO The OAS General Secretariat, through the Trade Section of the Department of Trade and Tourism (DTT), plays an active role in the areas of trade capacity-building (TCB), the administration and implementation of trade agreements, the strengthening of the supply-side capabilities of OAS Members States, as well as in the Aid for Trade discussions. Read more...

Human and Institutional Trade Capacity Building
	Master in International Trade Policy (MITP) at UWI Cave Hill, ongoing OAS-WTO-GWU Trade Course for Latin American Trade Officials, ongoing
	Course on International Trade: The Integration of Haiti to the Multilateral and Regional System, Port-au-Prince, June 2008
	CARICOM/Chile SPS Cooperation Project
	First Workshop for OECS Countries
	First Study Tour
Administration and Implementation of Trade Agreements
	Successful Practices in the Administration of Trade and Integration Agreements in the Americas
	Services IPR Provisions Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Dispute Settlement Regimes Trade Statistics Data Rules of Origin and Custom Procedures Best Practices
	Seminar on the exchange of best practices in the implementation and administration of provisions on intellectual property in trade agreements. Quito, Ecuador, December 9-12, 2008
	Managing Investment Disputes. San José, Costa Rica. November 17-26, 2008
	Workshop on market access, agriculture and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. La Paz, Bolivia. February 22-23, 2007
Strengthening the Supply-side Capabilities of OAS Members States
	Caribbean IP Export Project: Exporting local products with high intangible value. August 2008-March 2009
	Workshop for SMEs on agro-industrial exports to the United States in the context of the CAFTA-DR. Managua, Nicaragua. March 27, 2008
	Workshops for Peruvian SMEs on benefiting from external markets through their participation in supply chains. Peru: Lima, Puno, Cajamarca. March 24-31, 2008
Aid for Trade
	Symposium on Aid for Trade for the Caribbean- Making it a Reality. Kingston, Jamaica, Jun 16-17, 2008
Haiti
	Course on International Trade: The Integration of Haiti to the Multilateral and Regional System, June 2008
	Institutional Strengthening: Working with the Centre for the Facilitation of Investment, 2006-2008
Intellectual Property Rights
	IPRTA Forum Mexico 08 Conference
	Workshops of  Exchange of Experiences of Implementation and Administration of IPR Provisions in Trade Agreements:
	I Workshop - Mexico City, Mexico, October 22-26, 2007
	II Workshop - Quito, Ecuador, December 9-12, 2008
Investment
	Investment Promotion Initiative: OECS Investment Gateway
	Course on Managing Investment Disputes, organized with UNCTAD and ongoing since 2005
Services
	Regulatory Reform and Services Trade Liberalization in the Andean Community: Telecom and Financial Services

During the period 2005-2008 the DTT executed the following programs, projects and activities on trade and competitiveness: Multi-regional Activities Caribbean/OECS Activities Central American, Panama and the Dominican Republic Activities Andean Region Activities Southern Cone Activities OUTREACH and DIALOGUE The Trade Section is forging a role in the education and enhanced understanding of trade issues by various components of civil society, through seminars, awareness-building activities and policy discussions with legislators, journalists, the private sector, academics and members of non-governmental organizations.  Project on Public-Private Partnerships for Workforce Development in Latin America, 2008 Trade Seminar for CARICOM Parliamentarians: “Shaping a Trade Agenda to Promote Regional Integration and Competitiveness for CARICOM: the EPA and other Negotiating Challenges.” Castries, St. Lucia. May 17, 2007 Workshop for the Uruguayan private sector on best practices for the export of services. Montevideo, Uruguay. April 3-5, 2006 Workshops on free trade agreements for the Colombian Civil Society. Colombia, Sept. 2004 - Dec.2005   PUBLICATIONS World Bank-OAS Caribbean Trade Report Patent and Test Data Provisions of Recent Bilateral Trade Agreements (FTAs) Negotiated by Countries in the Western Hemisphere: An Overview of U.S. Legal Standards, John R. Thomas, May 2008. Comparative Guide Chile-US FTA and DR - CAFTA   More Publications >>

The Tourism Section also serves as the Secretariat of the Inter-American Travel Congress and the Secretariat of the proposed Alliance for Latin American and Caribbean Responsible Tourism (ALACART).

SICE
The Organization of American State's Foreign Trade Information System - centralizes information on trade policy in the Americas.

On the SICE Website, you will find:

• Full texts of trade agreements in force for OAS Member States,

• Trade policy developments,

• Information on national trade-related legislation,

• Links to multilateral, regional and national sources of trade policy

• Glossaries of trade terms

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PRIVATE SECTOR FORUM
The OAS General Secretariat supports the business community’s efforts to contribute ideas and initiatives that pursue the goals of enhanced economic growth, prosperity and poverty reduction in the Hemisphere and that complement the actions taken by the OAS Member States and development institutions. More...

MTV Latinoamérica and the OAS Announce the Special 'Agents of Change III'

OAS PRIVATE SECTOR FORUM
	V SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS - OAS Private Sector Forum "Promoting Private Sector-Led Prosperity in the Emerging Decade: The Quest for Competitiveness" Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 15-16, 2009
	V Forum Governance for Development and Competitiveness in the Americas: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships Medellin, Colombia - May 2008
	IV Forum Energy for Development in the Americas: The Role of Public - Private Partnerships Panama City, Panama - June 2007
	Competitiveness Agenda for the Americas: Contributions of the Private Sector to the Development of the Hemisphere Miami, United States - December 2006
	III Forum Inter-American Proposal for a Public-Private Sector Alliance on Competitiveness and Job Creation Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - June 2006
	II Forum Delivering the Benefits of Democracy Through Job Creation: The Role of the Private Sector Buenos Aires, Argentina - November 2005
	I Forum Delivering the Benefits of Democracy Through Increased Competitiveness Ft. Lauderdale, United States - June 2005

EVENTS

This book is available through the Brookings Institution

This book is available through the Brookings Institution

Trade and Integration Arrangements in the Americas: An Analytical Compendium
This compendium, prepared in 1995, covers broad issues --such as type, scope, and objectives-- of sixteen trade and integration arrangements in the Americas.

Toward Free Trade in the Americas
Originally prepared by the Trade Section for the FTAA Trade Ministerial in June 1995, this narrative is an overview and analysis of the evolution of trading arrangements in the Western Hemisphere.

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