That marks a fundamental step forward. Our hemispheric republics have discussed the free trade zone concept on innumerable occasions in the past. Any student of our hemisphere's history, can recite the free trade proposals of Simon Bolivar, James G. Blaine and Benito Juarez. I doubt that anyone in the room, however, knows of the dialogue on free trade between Thomas Jefferson and the Brazilian priest Father Serra. The Toronto meeting marked the moment at which, for the first time in the history of the independent Western hemisphere, we set out to actually draft the provision of the agreement itself.
Much work remains ahead, of course.
First, it offers some ideas and precedents for addressing the issues of transparency and inclusion that were so evident in Seattle. Since 1998, it has solicited ideas and input from anyone wishing to contribute. We heard from 68 groups ranging from the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry, to the Consultative Andean Labor Council, the Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law, and the Latin American School of Social Sciences in Chile. The comments are posted on the Internet. In Toronto, Ministers and Vice Ministers from 22 countries attended a civil society forum, which deepened and extended this exchange.