In Miami in December 1994 the heads of State of 34 countries of the hemisphere decided to construct a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by the year 2005. The initiative was backed by an ambitious Plan of Action which gained further definition in declarations of the trade ministers in follow...

This paper analyses the challenges and preliminary achievements of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process from the Miami Summit of the Americas in December 1994 to the Cartagena Trade Ministerial in March 1996. A short description of the process itself - the Summit Action Plan, the...