Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Montevideo, Uruguay
April 11, 2002

(unofficial transcript)

The signing of the agreement between Uruguay and the United States of America establishes the US-Uruguayan Joint Commission on Trade and Investment. Said bilateral instrument regulates the objectives and guidelines of the aforementioned commission. The text was inspired by talks between Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle during his recent visit to President George Bush in Washington, DC on January 15. US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick spearheaded the writing of said text.

The aforementioned document will be signed by the Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Ambassador Guillermo Valles, and by the Assistant US Trade Representative for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Regina Vargo.

Immediately following the signing, the participants will give brief statements.

Remarks by Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Valles:

Madame Assistant US Trade Representative for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Regina Vargo, Ambassadors, US Ambassador to Uruguay Martin J. Silverstein, Uruguayan Ambassador to the US, Hugo Fernández Feingold, Isidoro Hodara, General Coordinator for Uruguay, ladies and gentlemen, friends, members of the press:

In the name of the Government of Uruguay, and on behalf of Foreign Minister Opertti, we have just signed not a routine document but something more. This document carries a bit of importance; we could define its importance, but perhaps history will define it better than we. It [the agreement] is the establishment, the formation of a joint commission. We have many joint bilateral commissions, including with the United States. This [agreement], furthermore, is the fruition of the will of the two Presidents for a political dialogue undertaken a few short weeks ago. As a result, it [the agreement] is the result of a common goal shared by both Presidents Bush and Battle and was laid out in more concrete terms by President Bush’s Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick.

This agreement will serve specifically as a bilateral conduit to deal with all, repeat all, bilateral trade and investment issues. There’s a phrase in English that I mentioned to Ms Regina Vargo in our working group, "The sky’s the limit." Only the sky can limit us or, the sky will set the limit.

This is the proposition of the Uruguayan government; we hope it will also be that of the US government. In this joint commission, we have a forum in which to make our needs known. For Uruguay, it is the need to develop economically. The only conduit Uruguay has to create jobs is through trade, seeking opportunities for trade, not only in Mercosur, as we have said, but also beyond Mercosur, without limits nor preconceived notions of any kind. There are no abstract commercial norms, no abstract or vague terms, but rather opportunities for more jobs for our people. This agreement, moreover, has meaning beyond trade. What we signed will certainly help both sides contribute to a better dialogue in international trade.

Just a few moments ago, we commented to Ms Vargo that one of the successes of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization a few months ago was precisely the possibility of establishing a bilateral dialogue more cognizant of all countries’ needs. I am sure that there will also be repercussions on how much we can contribute to strengthening international trade. There are, therefore, opportunities that we alone will have to take on. We alone, along with the Uruguayan private sector and politicians from both countries, will be responsible for examining the ways in which we can grow together so that our economy, the Uruguayan economy in such great need of markets, can find the right tools to attain this objective. These are the contents of this agreement; these are our aspirations. Perhaps that is why this is the first step along a long path.

Thank you very much.

Remarks by Assistant US Trade Representative, Regina Vargo:

Thank you very much, Guillermo. Let me just add to that opening how much we welcome this opportunity to work with Uruguay, which we have found to be such excellent partner on so many different fronts. We find that with Uruguay we share a commonality of views, and I think a deep desire on both parts to liberalize trade further and find a way for our citizens to benefit from that liberalization. We already had a rich dialogue on trade with Uruguay in the WTO, in the FTAA, in our 4 + 1 discussions, and this is one more avenue, one more door, that we can open. So as the Ambassador [Valles] has said, we can address the full range of issues between us. We agreed today on a very ambitious schedule of meetings and work for the remainder of this year, and I think we are going to get to know each other even better. Thank you.

Q&A:

Q: How does this fit into the 4 + 1? Do you think this might have any negative repercussions on Mercosur?

Vargo: No, I don't see any negative repercussions from enhancing a dialogue with Uruguay. There are issues that Uruguay has or that the U.S. would like to have addressed that are truly of a bilateral nature. And this will offer us the opportunity to devote the time, resources, and a high level attention to those issues as well to establish a very frequent source of communication and contact with one another so that we can also enhance our working relationship together on issues of mutual concern, whether they be sub-regional, directed towards the FTAA, or our work in the WTO.

Q: Gustavo Sáenz from Channel 4. This question goes to Ms Vargo. Before leaving for Costa Rica, President Batlle stated that the United States, unfortunately, was not going to be able to buy twice the amount of beef that it is purchasing now from Uruguay, and that this [issue] was going to be taken up in the WTO. But, in fact, it was President Bush's intention or desire to be in a position to make those additional purchases. How do you see this issue?

Vargo: I think that we through this new channel that we've just opened we can better understand what the aspirations of Uruguay are and what the opportunities are. Sometimes our trade obligations entail a network of factors that we have to take into account, and that's why we are trying to pursue these opportunities at every level.

Valles: I would like to add, because in some way the following will also answer your question and the previous one. Let's suppose we are at a station where there are four trains. There's a WTO train, a 4+1 train, an FTAA train and, fortunately, a Uruguay-U.S. train. I don't know which will be the first one to arrive at the station. The important thing here is that Uruguay has these four trains, and that with these four trains, we are defending Uruguay's needs.

Vargo: I think we've just added a train track! [laughter and applause]

Valles: I hope it's a fast track! [laughter and applause]

Q: Channel 10, Pablo Silvera. This question is for Dr. Valles. Given the experience in this type of treaty, what are prospects? When can this agreement be reached, and when can these bilateral relations start?

Valles: Talking about the final stage, talking just about what I was saying, when we get to the final stage. What is important is that we have decided that this train will make one stop in May in Washington, when we will establish the working groups and the agenda for the remainder of 2002. Furthermore, we agreed with Ms Vargo that we will meet not only to define an agenda but also, beginning today through May, we will exchange ideas through our embassies. We have also made progress on how we will organize the work and what we will do from now on until the end of 2002 to be able to give our blessing, so to speak, at our next meeting in May. If you are asking when we will start exporting more goods or when the United States export more to this country, that is obviously an answer that neither this train, nor any others, can give you.

Q: Anahi Rama from Reuters. For Ms Vargo: it's clear that what Uruguay wants out of these talks is to be able to sell more, export more to the United States. But what's in it for the U.S.? We are talking about a market of only 3.2 million people.

Vargo: Well, if the United States were only to look at the size of markets, there would be very few other countries in the world with which we would be having a dialogue. There are some issues that we would like to take up with Uruguay during these talks; copyrights might serve as one example. But we've actually been increasing our contacts and work with Uruguay over the last year to fight intensively. Most recently, in the run-up to the DOHA round, Uruguay played a very important role in that and an important role in making it a success. And it makes sense that we should want to enhance our relations and seek those mutual goals in the interest of both countries that are like-minded, which have the same basic interests and outlook that I think we do. That trade will be a very important avenue for economic growth, for economic development. We have a large stake. We have a large stake in this region, and we would like to work with Uruguay to find a way to move forward together.

Q: For Ms Vargo, Rafael Guarga, TVEO Informa, Channel 5. What are the requirements that the U.S. is setting to move ahead on this agreement with Uruguay?

Vargo: We've established no prior requirements on our work together. What we've done since the visit of President Batlle to Washington, when he spoke with President Bush and with Ambassador Zoellick, is we just need to attempt to focus in on some topics that we thought we could usefully discuss in the course of the next year; we haven't taken our mission as to set requirements up front but rather to try to get results.

<Q: For Ms Vargo. Daniel Peca, El Observador. What is the status of the negotiations with Chile at this point?

Vargo: Well, I just actually came from Chile; we just had a meeting there for several days. This particular meeting focused particularly on market access and issues concerning SPS [sanitary and phyto-sanitary] issues. And I think the sense on all sides is that we made progress.

Valles: Truly, this bit of information comes from Ms Vargo, but my understanding is that Chile is successful with its negotiations with the United States and with the European Union as well. I am very pleased about this, and we see an interesting mirror in which we see ourselves, always respecting each other's idiosyncrasies.

Q: Carlos Castillo, German Press Agency. The question is for Ms Vargo. The question is about intellectual property rights and what U.S. companies are going through at this point.

Vargo: Let me just say in a general way that as we all work together on these trade agreements, it is important that we move forward with the agreements. We would like to see Uruguay bring its laws up to compliance with the trip's obligations from the WTO. And regarding copyrights in particular, copyright and software, I think this is an area where both the United States and Uruguay could benefit from these changes. Uruguay is beginning to make its own move, I think, into export markets with software. And I think this will increase the likelihood of success on that front if they are doing so with a modern package of intellectual property rights law.

Q: Lucas Hernández, France Press. This question is for both of you. To what extent can this type of agreement influence the political arena? In other words, will this improve the political relationship between the two countries? And if so, to what extent? Will this enhance the political bonds between the two countries?

Vargo: I cannot see any way to do anything other than help. And certainly, this is our objective.

Valles: I totally agree with that. I was just saying that in ancient Greek mythology, the god of diplomacy was also the god of trade. It's good for countries to understand each other politically and economically. It's good for countries to speak to each other face to face, even when they dissent politically and economically. This is what we are doing.

Thanks to all in the media for coming.

(end of transcript)