The FTAA was an attempt to create a free trade agreement that expanded NAFTA throughout North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, excluding Cuba. Negotiations began in 1994 with the goal of completing the agreement by 2005. However, the FTAA was never signed due to large protests. The FTAA would have united the economies of the Americas into a single free trade area by progressively eliminating barriers to trade and investment among member countries.

2. What is FTAA?
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• The effort to unite the economies of
the Americas into a single free trade
area began at the Summit of the
Americas, which was held in
December 1994 in Miami, U.S.A.
• Barriers to trade and investment will
be progressively eliminated
• They agreed to complete
negotiations towards this agreement
by the year 2005

3. History..
• The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
was an attempt to create a neoliberal free
trade agreement that expanded the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to
every country in North America, Central America,
South America and the Caribbean, except Cuba.
• Negotiations began right after the completion of
NAFTA in 1994 and were supposed to have been
completed by January 1, 2005.
• But an exciting thing happened: the FTAA was
not signed.

4. History…
• Free Trade Area of the Americas began
with the Summit of the Americas in Miami,
Florida, on December 11, 1994,
• The Miami negotiations in 2003 met similar
protests, though perhaps not as large.

5. Members…
• The following countries are in the plans of the
Free Trade Area of the Americas:

6. Chairmanship of the Negotiations…
Chairmanship Vice-
May 1, 1998 -
31, 1999
Canada Argentina
November 1, 1999 -
April 30, 2001
Argentina Ecuador
May 1, 2001 -
31, 2002
Ecuador Chile
Co-Chairs
November 1, 2002 -
conclusion of the
negotiations
Brazil and United States of America

7. Objectives of the FTAA:
1. Member states of the FTAA stated the following
objectives:
2. Promote prosperity through increased integration
and free trade
3. Establish a Free Trade Area in which barriers to
trade in goods, services and investment are
progressively eliminated by no later than 2005
4. Maximize market openness
5. Facilitate integration of smaller economies into
the FTAA
6. Secure observance and protection of worker
rights

8. Function of the FTAA…
• Official Function of the FTAA:"We, the
Ministers, reaffirm our commitment to the
successful conclusion of the FTAA negotiations
by January 2005, with the ultimate goal of
achieving an area of free trade and regional
integration. The Ministers reaffirm their
commitment to a comprehensive and balanced
FTAA that will most effectively foster economic
growth, the reduction of poverty, development,
and integration through trade liberalization.

9. Function of the FTAA…
• Unofficial Function of the FTAA:The Free
Trade Area of the Americas is to guarantee
control for North American businesses over a
territory which stretches from the Arctic to the
Antarctic, free access over the entire
hemisphere without any difficulty or obstacle
for our products, services, technology and
capital.