In Dec. 1994, at the First Summit of the Americas, the leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere countries met to launch the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) & to commit to its establishment by the year 2005. This publication summarizes the status of the technical infrastructure for conformity assessment in the Americas. It provides info. about inspection & testing, product certification, quality system registration & lab. accreditation for the countries that will comprise the FTAA. Chapters: FTAA Countries Conformity Assessment Infrastructure; membership in international & regional bodies; contact information; useful web sites; selected acronyms; bibliography; & surveys.

Faster economic growth and expansion of exports in Central America in the 21st century will depend on many factors. These include efficient and modern standards systems and an end to technical barriers to trade. Regional efforts can be an efficient way to modernize standards systems.

Although regional integration initiatives have a long history in the world economy, these efforts have expanded significantly since the 1990s. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a wave of regional integration initiatives has included free trade areas, customs unions, and steps towards common markets. The emergence of this "new regionalism"of trade in which global and regional forces complement one another has been driven by such factors as the opening up of economies and structural reforms. This year's edition of Economic and Social Progress in Latin America explores the dimensions of integration, macroeconomic coordination, and the effects of regional integration on productivity, market access, foreign direct investment, infrastructure and income inequality. Topics include subregional integration schemes, the multilateral trade agenda launched in Doha, initiatives such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and interregional agreements with the European Union.