Central American leaders were in Santo Domingo on 16 April for the signing of the Central American free trade agreement with the Dominican Republic. Dominican negotiator Federico Cuello explained that the agreement is a state of the art treaty that incorporates all contemporary trade schemes such as those contained in the NAFTA agreement. The agreement covers goods, services and investment transactions. The agreement creates a US$50,000 million market and integrates 40 million consumers. While up to 20 products may be exempt from the duty free treatment, by year 2004 all products will benefit from free trade status. In year 2005, the Americas should become a free trade area. Presidents José Figueres of Costa Rica; Armando Calderón of El Salvador, Carlos Flores of Honduras; Arnoldo Alemán of Nicaragua and Minister of Economy Juan Mauricio Wurmser for Guatemala signed the 122 page agreement, a follow up to the November Declaration of Santo Domingo issued during the Central American chief of states meeting in the capital of the Dominican Republic. The signatory governments now have a 120 day period in which to present a list of up to 20 goods that will be exempt from the duty free treatment. This deadline coincides with the August opening of the new Congress in the Dominican Republic. The final draft will be presented to the new Congress that initiates 16 August for ratifying. The Presidents left together at 9 am on board a Chilean Air Force jet to participate in the discussions on free trade talks for the whole hemisphere in the Summit of the Americas that open in the Chilean capital Santiago on April 18-19. Following the signing of the treaty, the statesmen issued a joint statement demanding that the U.S. give Honduran nationals the same migratory status awarded to other Central American nations.
