Civil society organisations, or CSOs, are central to making better trade policies in Latin America. This was the conclusion of the COPLA event hosted at ODI with researchers from Nicaragua, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. At the event, researchers presented initial findings on how CSOs could engage in the trade policy debate and an analysis of which groups are participating, who they represent and what impact they have had to date.

Alan Fairlie Reinoso will be part of the COPLA panel in the WTO Public Forum "Trading into the Future" as he became winner of the call done to networks.

After a thorough revision of the proposals received, the winner was selected to participate as a panellist of the COPLA session organized by CIES and CIPPEC for the WTO Public Forum that will be held in Geneva on the 24th and 25th of September, 2008.

The evaluation panel has decided that Dr. Alan Fairlie Reinoso, Coordinator of the Peru Node of the Latin American Trade Network - LATN - and professor of Peru´s Catholic University.

COPLA’s session for the 2008 WTO Public Forum, "Trading into the Future," scheduled to take place on 24-25 September 2008 at the WTO headquarters in Geneva will be: “International Trade and Poverty. Proposals to help international trade benefits include the excluded sectors in Latin America”.
COPLA is launching a call for proposals to provide a scholarship for the participation of a member of a network that works on the link between commerce and poverty in the above mentioned session. The panel will be conducted together with COPLA’s representatives.

One of the main areas of focus for the COPLA programme is how socially marginalised groups can benefit from increased regional and global trade flows in Latin America. In 2003, the region hosted 45 million international tourists, who generated nearly $30 billion – the equivalent of around $56 a year for every person living in the region. And so the tourism sector cannot be overlooked as a key source of income for these traditionally excluded groups.

A report from the IBCE to Ana María Solares shows that, although 8 out of 10 exporter companies are from this sector, their level of sales to other countries reaches only 3% of the total exported. If they want to develop, these units have to associate and get more formal. (Formalize)

Nevertheless, these 8 out of ten formal companies that sell their products to external markets are micro, small and medium enterprises (mipymes), the level of export of the sector barely reaches 3% of the national total and only 10% if it involves the non traditional external trade.

The Selection Committee announced that our proposed session has been selected for presentation to participate in the 2008 WTO Public Forum, "Trading into the Future," scheduled to take place on 24-25 September 2008 at the WTO headquarters in Geneva.

COPLA’s session will be: “International Trade and Poverty. Proposals to help international trade benefits include the excluded sectors in Latin America”.

The document by Waldo Mendoza (research coordinator for COPLA Peru) titled ‘Trade policy and poverty in Peru. How do free trade agreements (FTA) impact rural poverty?’ presents clearly the existent evidence that links international trade with growth and with poverty as the other side of the same story. The document published by CIES and available in the resources area of COPLA Peru in http://www.cop-la.net/en/node/357 analyses theories on the matter and then focuses on the implementation of the FTA signed with the United States.

Trade, Gender and Equity in Latin America: ellaborating an influence plan

A Participative Planning Workshop took place last 17th and 18th of April, in Montevideo, for the Latin American Gender and Trade Network (LAGTN), organized by Interdisciplinary Center of Studies on Develpoment – Uruguay (CIEDUR) and financed by (International Development Research Center) IDRC – Canada.

Both COPLA Nicaragua and Bolivia address the use of natural resources by the poor. While it is recognised that their participation in the value chain is important, it is also true that this does not guarantee success for those involved. It is also the case that a wide range of policies are necessary to develop the systems, competencies and skills that are conducive to the poor successfully participating of community based forestry and the trade of forest-related products. A recent paper from ODI Natural Resoruces Perspective by Benno Pokorny and James Johnson suggests the following:

The most important newspapers from Peru pointed out as a trade policy mistake the lowering of custom taxes to stop the rise in inflation registered in the country in the last months. This is especially relevant in the context of the free trade agreement (TLC for its acronym in Spanish) that Peru has recently signed with the United States.