II EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING: Final Report

II EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING: Final Report
Took place in December 5 -7 of 2000 in Bridgetown, Barbados and are included the final report :
I. BACKGROUND
The purpose of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) of the Organization of American States (OAS) is to serve as a permanent inter-American forum for the highest-ranking national government authorities on port-related issues in the member states and to strengthen cooperation in the area of hemispheric port development, with the private sector's active participation and collaboration. The CIP was established by the OAS General Assembly in 1998, which approved the transformation of the Inter-American Port and Harbor Conference into the CIP.
The Executive Board (CECIP) was elected at the First Meeting of the CIP, held in October 1999 in Guatemala City. The Board is composed of the following 15 countries: Argentina (Chair), Barbados, Mexico, the United States, and Uruguay (Vice Chairs), and Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama, and Saint Lucia.
The Executive Board serves as the executing agency for Committee resolutions. Pursuant to Article 63 of its Rules of Procedure, the Board must hold its first meeting within 90 days of its establishment. To that end, through resolution CECIP/RES. 9 (I-99), the Committee decided that the second meeting of the Executive Board would be held in Barbados in December 2000.
The draft agenda was prepared by the Committee Secretariat, in coordination with the Chair of the Executive Board. The Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Committee on Ports governed the meeting.
II. VENUE AND DATE
The Second Meeting of the Executive Board of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CECIP) was held in the Hotel Grand Barbados, Bridgetown, Barbados, from December 5 to 7, 2000.
III. AGENDA
Approval of the agenda.
Report from Secretariat.
Report from the Chair of the Subcommittee on Policy and Coordination:
a.  Follow-up on the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) and other integration processes and their impact on ports.
b.  Relations with the European Union and other international organizations.
c.  Preliminary draft rules of procedure for the Executive Board.
d.  Preliminary draft rules of procedure for the Technical Advisory Groups.
e.  Report on the status of contributions: countries in arrears.
f.  Other business.
Report from the Chair of the Subcommittee on Port Training:
a.  Activities conducted in 2000.
b.  Report from the Working Group on cost recovery for training activities.
c.  Questionnaire to identify training needs.
d.  Information dissemination on national port training activities in 2000.
e.  Other business.
Report from the Chair of the Subcommittee on Port Administration:
Privatizations and port reforms.
Modern technologies applied in ports.
Ports for cruise ships.
Port statistics.
Port tariffs.
Port-Customs relations.
City-port relations.
Waterways.
Use of the coastline.
Quality assurance.
Other business.
Report from the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group on Port Operations.
Report from the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group on Port Safety.
Report from the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group on Navigation Safety and Environmental Protection.
Evaluation of the Technical Advisory Groups.
Port reforms in the Caribbean countries.
Revision of the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance among Inter-American Port Authorities.
CIP logo.
Natural disasters and ports.
Programming and organization of the second meeting of the CIP (2001).
Preparation and approval of the Plan of Action of the Executive Board for 2001.
Meetings of the Subcommittees of the Executive Board:
a.  Fifth Meeting of the Subcommittee on Policy and Coordination:
i. Proposed Work Plan for 2001.
ii. Other business.
b.  Second Meeting of the Subcommittee on Port Training:
i. Proposed Work Plan for 2001.
ii. Other business.
c.  Second meeting of the Subcommittee on Port Administration:
i. Proposed Work Plan for 2001.
ii. Other business.
Status of the Special Port Program.
Venue and date of the Third Meeting of the Executive Board (2001).
Venue and date of the Fourth Meeting of the Executive Board (2002).
Other Business.
IV. MEETING OFFICERS
Chair: Daniel Levy (Argentina)
Vice Chair: Francisco Pastrana (Mexico)
Coordinator: Everton Walters (Barbados)
Secretary: Carlos M. Gallegos (OAS)
Subcommittees of the Executive Board
Chair of the Subcommittee on Policy and Coordination: Daniel Levy (Argentina)
Chair of the Subcommittee on Port Training: Doris Bautch (United States)
Vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Port Administration: Andrés Rengifo (Chile)
V. PARTICIPANTS
The following member countries of the Board participated in the Second Meeting of the Executive Board of the CIP: Argentina, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Saint Lucia, the United States, and Uruguay. Delegations of other OAS member countries also participated: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Granada, Guyana, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. The Delegation of Spain attended in its capacity as Permanent Observer to the OAS. The list of participants is attached as Annex A (Document CECIP/doc.2/00) to this report.
VI. DOCUMENTS
The list of meeting documents is attached as Annex B (Document CECIP/doc.1/00) to this report.
VII. PROCEEDINGS
At the meeting, an inaugural session, five plenary sessions, the meetings of the Executive Board Subcommittees, and a closing session were held.
Inaugural Session
The Inaugural Session was held at 9:00 a.m. on December 5, 2000. Mr. Larry Tatem, Chairman of the Barbados Port Authority (BPA), welcomed the participants and thanked them for accepting the proposal of Barbados to hold this important meeting of the hemispheric port system. He highlighted the leading role his country had played in this field in the region and stressed the need to adapt to the major changes taking place throughout the world and their repercussions on ports in the developing countries. He also discussed the participation and integration of labor with management as a modern element of business administration.
The Secretary of the CIP, Dr. Carlos M. Gallegos, spoke on the progress the Committee had made in its first year of operation and the strict adherence to the decisions of the Committee and the Board that had been observed. He expressed thanks for the support provided by member countries and encouraged new port authorities, having taken office as a result of recent elections in various countries, to continue cooperating closely with the CIP and the Executive Board. He stressed the need to promote the CIP’s and the Board’s activities at the national level within the member countries and to encourage private-sector participation in the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) as a new instrument for improving the efficiency of the region’s port system. He thanked the member countries for attending this meeting and the authorities of Barbados for their excellent contribution to the organization of this event.
Mr. Daniel Levy, Under Secretary of Transportation, Waterways and Ports in Argentina and Chair of the CIP Executive Board, stressed the importance of the issues to be addressed at this meeting. He called particular attention to the TAGs as mechanisms for private-sector involvement in the activities of the CIP. He spoke of the challenge of achieving proper balance between private- and public-sector action and urged the delegates to take every opportunity during the meeting to exchange ideas and experiences to improve port efficiency in the region. Finally, he commented on the importance of defining the Work Plan for 2001, which would cover the matters to be addressed during the forthcoming year.
Mr. Noel Lynch, Minister of Tourism and Transportation of Barbados, expressed a warm welcome to the delegates on behalf of the people of Barbados, thanked the OAS for the confidence placed in his country as the venue for this meeting, and called attention to the efficient work performed by the BPA on behalf of the country and the region. He spoke of the new players that had appeared on the world scene as a result of the globalization process, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), transnational enterprises, and multidisciplinary interest groups, all of which posed a great challenge, especially for developing and more sparsely populated countries. He talked about the continuous interrelationship that exists between ports and transportation, and the importance of both for the Caribbean region. He stressed the need to modernize ports institutionally and in terms of infrastructure. He highlighted the importance of human resources and continuous training processes to reach high levels of efficiency in the operation of ports. To conclude, he urged the participants to enjoy the traditional hospitality of Barbados, wished them a highly successful outcome, and officially declared the meeting open.
Lastly, the General Manager of the BPA, Mr. Everton Walters, declared that it was a privilege for Barbados to hold this meeting and expressed a vote of thanks to the authorities of the OAS, the participating delegations, the private sector participants working with the TAGs, the Chair of the Executive Board, the Secretary of the Committee, and the Organizing Committee and its staff. He also thanked the Minister of Tourism and Transportation for his presence.
First Plenary Session
The session was called to order at 10:30 a.m. on December 5, 2000, and was chaired by Mr. Daniel Levy, principal delegate of Argentina. The following agenda items were discussed:
·  Approval of the agenda (agenda item 1)
The plenary approved the agenda contained in document CECIP/doc.3/00 and the schedule contained in document CECIP/doc.4/00.
·  Report from Secretariat (agenda item 2)
The Secretary of the OAS Inter-American Committee on Ports reported on the main activities conducted in 2000, which were included in document CECIP/doc.6/00 and are summarized as follows: (i) fulfillment of the Executive Board’s mandates and support for the work of the Subcommittees. The Secretariat performed numerous technical support activities for the Subcommittees on Policy and Coordination, Port Training, and Port Administration, including in particular: preparation of the preliminary draft rules of procedure of the Executive Board and the TAGs; updated version of the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Among Inter-American Port Authorities; follow-up study on the FTAA; execution of the Training Program for 2000; participation in the working group on training; and a questionnaire on port reforms; (ii) Support for the Technical Advisory Groups: The Secretariat prepared and distributed an information document in two languages on the TAGs. It also: organized a coordination meeting between the three TAGs in Brasilia for the purpose of harmonizing criteria for implementation; facilitated the organization of the three meetings of the TAGs in Barbados; and assisted the countries in the campaign to attract associate members for each TAG. (iii) Planning, organization and holding of forum meetings. These included three meetings of the Subcommittee on Policy and Coordination (Washington, D.C., March; Brasilia, August; and Barbados, December); a coordination meeting of the CTC (Brasilia, August) and the Second Meeting of the Executive Board (Barbados, December). (iv) Technical support for international port events. The Secretariat provided support for the organization of, participation in, and dissemination of information on, the following events, inter alia: Spring meeting of the Association of Port Authorities of the Americas (AAPA); CARICOM Conference on Trade and Transporation, Montego Bay, Jamaica; Ibero-American Seminar on Port Technology Exchange, National Ports of Spain, Cancun, Mexico; Third Andean Port Colloquium with the Community of Andean Nations, Lima, Peru; Second Ibero-American Conference on Logistics, with the Inter-American Institute for Logistics (ILI), Montevideo, Uruguay, November. (v) Strengthening of interagency port cooperation. Relations were strengthened with: the National Ports of Spain; the Port of Miami; the Ports of Bilbao, Valencia and Santander in Spain, the Andean Community of Nations, ECLAC, UNCTAD, and the Institute for Maritime Development (INDESMAR) of Peru. (vi) Information dissemination. Among other activities, seven newsletters were issued in Spanish and English and disseminated throughout the world; a CIP Website was maintained; documents concerning meetings of the Committee in Guatemala and the Executive Board in Buenos Aires were prepared and disseminated; and a brochure in Spanish and English was prepared and distributed at various international events attended by the CIP.
The plenary approved this report and thanked the Secretariat for its work.
·  Report from the Subcommittee on Policy and Coordination (agenda item 3)
Mr. Daniel Levy, delegate of Argentina and Chair of the Subcommittee, presented the report on activities conducted during the year. He also gave the floor to delegations that had been entrusted with specific tasks. The following agenda items were covered:
a.  Follow-up on the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), other integration processes, and their impact on ports. Dr. Mario Montemurro, delegate of Uruguay, presented this agenda item, covered in document CECIP/doc.31/00. He identified and explained the main integration and trade agreements in the Hemisphere (FTAA, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, the Central American Common Market, the Common Market of the Caribbean, and the Subregional Andean Integration Agreement, among others). He then referred to the Summit of the Americas and the formation of Negotiating Groups in accordance with the Plan of Action of the Ministers of Trade of the Hemisphere. Lastly, he analyzed the repercussion of trade integration processes on ports, the intermodal function performed by ports, and their importance in the transportation chain. He recommended that work continue on this matter on a more detailed and geographically focused basis.
b.  Relations with the European Union and other international organizations. The Secretariat reported on progress made with the delegation of Spain with respect to the mission to that country and to the European Union (EU), included in the document CECIP/doc.7/00 and on the profiles of projects for possible submission to the EU for nonreimbursable cooperation resources (documento CECIP/doc.24/00). Mr. Carlos Ibarz, delegate of Spain, then reported on activities conducted to structure the mission of hemispheric port authorities to Spain and to the EU (documents CECIP/doc.36/00 and CECIP/doc.36/00). He indicated the procedures and rules applicable to the requests for cooperation received by the EU and emphasized the role that should be played by the foreign ministries of the member countries in support of the mission and in connection with requests to the European Union for cooperation. He offered the services of his delegation to continue working on this matter. The Chair thanked the delegation of Spain for its valuable contributions to the work of the CIP.