[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 50 (Monday, December 19, 1994)]
[Pages 2492-2493]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following the First Session of the Summit of the Americas in 
Miami

December 10, 1994

    Good morning. We have just completed the first working session of 
our summit on trade and economic integration. We are off to an excellent 
start. The 34 democratically elected leaders of our hemisphere have 
agreed to establish a free trade area of the Americas. This historic 
step will produce real opportunities for more jobs and solid, lasting 
prosperity for our peoples.
    The agreement is specific and concrete. We have set the year 2005 as 
our deadline for negotiating a free trade area, and we have agreed that 
there will be real progress before the end of the century. The agreement 
will cover a comprehensive list of areas, from tariffs on goods and 
services to tariffs on goods, to services, to agricultural and 
intellectual property. We have set a highly detailed timetable that will 
include regular meetings of our ministers for trade. Talks will begin 
next month.
    In less than a decade, if current trends continue, this hemisphere 
will be the world's largest market, more than 850 million consumers 
buying $13 trillion worth of goods and services. When our work is done, 
the free trade area of the Americas will stretch from Alaska to 
Argentina. It is the key building block in our creation of a partnership 
for prosperity. It will build upon the many bilateral and multilateral 
agreements already existing between our nations.
    We want to replace the many conflicting and different trade and 
other regulatory agreements with one that is consistent, while making 
sure to assist smaller economies in transition. We will ask the 
Organization of American States and the Inter-American De- 

[[Page 2493]]

velopment Bank to assist in this transition and integration. And we have 
pledged that our free trade area of the Americas will not raise new 
barriers to nations outside our region and will be fully consistent with 
the rules of the World Trade Organization. We have reaffirmed our 
commitment to make our individual trade and environmental policies 
mutually supportive and to further secure the observance and promotion 
of workers' rights.
    Let me emphasize, none of us--none of us--underestimates the hard 
work ahead. But from the leaders of our hemisphere's largest economies 
to the smallest, we believe the rewards will be great and very much 
worth the effort. We believe the agreement we have made today to launch 
the free trade area of the Americas will produce more jobs, higher 
incomes, and greater opportunities for all of our people.
    From here we're going to a working lunch, where we'll discuss issues 
affecting sustainable development. Our final session this afternoon will 
focus on the steps we will take to strengthen our democracies. I can 
think of no more appropriate way to end this day, the anniversary of the 
adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. in the Gardens at Vizcaya.