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JOINT STATEMENT Preamble We, the Ministers and authorities Responsible for Transportation from the countries of the Summit of the Americas, reaffirm our commitment to cooperation and convergence through the work of the Western Hemisphere Transport Initiative (WHTI), in order to ensure the continued development of an increasingly integrated transportation network for the Western Hemisphere that supports trade and economic growth, and that is safe, efficient and environmentally sustainable. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of the social and economic goals of the Summit of the Americas process through the WHTI, paying particular attention to the needs of small, island and developing states. We recognize that safe, clean and efficient transportation systems make an important contribution to the quality of life enjoyed by the people of the Americas and that the quality of our transportation systems will play an essential role in the facilitation of trade, particularly in light of the growth in intra-regional trade to which the ongoing process of hemispheric integration will give rise.
Recent Achievements We note with satisfaction the WHTI’s achievements since our meeting in New Orleans, USA, in December 1998, when we first met under the auspices of the Summit of the Americas process. The WHTI has made significant advances with regard to the various Priority Action Areas established in New Orleans, which included: a plan of action for integration; a transportation statistics system; a disaster response plan; a compendium of safety and incident response best practices; best practices reports on transportation infrastructure financing; capacity-building seminars; a mechanism for information exchange on transportation technologies; and a conference on the impacts of the Year 2000 computer problem on transportation systems. We are gratified that, through our collective action, Terms of Reference have been approved for the WHTI Executive Committee, thereby creating a formal administrative framework for our cooperation. We also express our sincere gratitude to the Organization of American States for having created a web site for the WHTI Executive Committee, which will greatly assist in ensuring that our work is carried out in as efficient, effective and low-cost a manner as possible. With a view to carrying forward vigorously our hemispheric transportation initiative we agree on the following key directives for future work:
Institutional Cooperation and the Establishment of a Knowledge Network We acknowledge the important efforts that are currently being made in the Americas to improve the region’s transportation systems, and agree that the WHTI’s work will build on, whenever possible, the existing initiatives in the five principal sub-regions of the Hemisphere – the Andean Community, the Caribbean, the Central American Integration System, MERCOSUR, and the North American Free Trade Agreement area – as well as the Hemisphere-wide initiatives of multilateral organizations. Accordingly, and with reference to the Plan of Action for the Integration of Transportation in the Americas prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, we direct the WHTI Executive Committee to promote and facilitate increased cooperation, convergence and information-sharing among these sub-regional groups and multilateral organizations, focusing on the harmonization of transportation standards, regulations and practices, and the development of human and institutional capacity. We recognize that the establishment of a transportation statistics system for the Americas, through the Western Hemisphere Transport Data System (WHTDS) project, will play a key role in the creation of a knowledge network for transportation in the region. With respect to the critically important area of human capacity building, we also encourage exchanges of personnel among the countries and institutions of the WHTI, as well as the development of, and participation in, transportation-related training programs and the dissemination of information regarding these programs by way of the WHTI web site.
Enhancing Safety in the Region We emphasize that ensuring high transportation safety standards is a top priority for all of our governments, and thus will be an essential element of the WHTI’s work program. We also emphasize the importance of skilled human resources and institutional capacity development in ensuring the safety of transportation systems. We acknowledge the important work that is already underway in the region with regard to cooperation in the area of aviation safety, including that of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the CARICOM Regional Oversight Mechanism, the Association of Caribbean States’ Aviation Group, the Central American Aviation Safety Agency (ACSA), the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC) and the North American Aviation Trilateral (NAAT), among others, all of which are recognized by ICAO. We urge increased cooperation and information sharing among the countries and institutions of the Americas, in support of ICAO’s standards and programs. At the same time, we call for the creation of a greater awareness within the hemisphere of the priority that should be placed on aviation safety. As such, we direct the Executive Committee to propose, working closely with the aforementioned aviation organizations and within as short a time frame as possible, an action plan that will allow for an improvement of aviation safety conditions in the region, including the identification of programs and sources of financing.
The Environment and Transportation in the Americas We note the importance of moving toward ever greater environmental sustainability in the provision of transportation services and infrastructure in the Americas, and request that the WHTI examine ways and means of furthering this goal. In particular, we are mindful of the impact that accidents involving the transport of hazardous materials can have, especially on small, island and developing states, as well as the damage caused by the poor waste management practices of some cruise ship and other vessel operators. Accordingly, we strongly encourage international maritime and air carriers to fully comply with the relevant standards developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Furthermore, we call on the Executive Committee to consider an appropriate mechanism, comprising the necessary technical resources, to promote the objectives of safety, environmental protection and sustainable development in the maritime context, among WHTI member states.
Natural Disaster Response and Infrastructure Vulnerability Reduction We are particularly saddened by the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the recent earthquakes in El Salvador. Recognizing that one of the principal threats to the integrity of our transportation systems is that posed by natural disasters, we commend the considerable work that has been accomplished in this area under the leadership of the Organization of American States, working with many countries and organizations from the region, and invite the WHTI to ensure that the lessons learned from this work are shared and discussed with all countries, and that the work is expanded as necessary in the region.
Conclusions: Bringing us Closer Together We, the Ministers Responsible for Transportation from the countries of the Summit of the Americas, are pleased to reaffirm our strong commitment to accelerating the process of convergence and cooperation through the Western Hemisphere Transport Initiative, with its aim of ensuring the highest level of safety while developing an integrated regional transportation system, which will be of vital importance in the realization of the goals of the Summit of the Americas process. In order to further these goals, we direct the WHTI Executive Committee to proactively promote and facilitate greater cooperation and information-sharing in the transportation-related work of the various sub-regional groups and multilateral organizations of the Hemisphere, particularly with regard to the harmonization of standards, regulations and practices, and the development of skilled human resources and institutional capacity. In doing so, the WHTI should focus on safety as a key priority, work to ensure that transport systems are as environmentally sound as possible, and seek to reduce the vulnerability of infrastructure to natural disasters. We express our sincerest gratitude to the Government of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay for hosting this important hemispheric event, and gratefully acknowledge Mexico’s offer to host the next Western Hemisphere Transport Ministers’ Meeting, in the spring of 2003. ©
2000 Executive Committee of the Western Hemisphere Transport Initiative,
and, Office of Summit Follow-Up, Organization of American States.
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