At the request of the ALADI General Secretariat, the Consultant, Hugo Baierlein Hermida, prepared this paper. It is part of a series of research papers prepared within the framework of the “Proyecto de Cooperación Técnica Regional ALADI-BID “Recomendaciones Técnicas para la creación del Espacio de Libre Comercio”” (ATN/SF-9749-RG) (Project of Regional Technical Cooperation ALADI-IDB “Technical Recommendations for the Constitution of the Free-Trade-Area).

This Project was done within the framework of the activities for the constitution of the Free-Trade-Area (FTA) of the ALADI, defined by Resolution 59 (XIII) of the Council of Ministers. Within this context, a group of Experts was called in order for them to present contributions for the definition of objectives and implementation forms of the FTA. These contributions are included in five documents, published as “SEC/Estudios 185 a 189”.