OAS

DECISION 463
Regime for the Development and Integration of Tourism in the Andean Community

THE COMMISSION OF THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY,

HAVING SEEN:

Articles 3 f), in regard to Economic and Social Cooperation Programs and Actions, 55, and 139 of the Cartagena Agreement and General Secretariat Proposal 28;

WHEREAS:

The Andean Presidential Council, at its meetings in Sucre and Guayaquil, reiterated the importance of the trade in services and confirmed the will of the Member Countries to liberalize that trade;

The IX Andean Presidential Council, gathered in Sucre, Bolivia, recommended advancing economic and social cooperation programs and actions in the area of tourism;

The progressive shaping of an Andean Common Market in Services is a basic element in the consolidation of subregional integration;

The Commission, at its Thirty-second session held from April 14 to 17, 1982, approved Decision 171 adopting an Andean Program of Tourism Development and Integration whose main purpose is to promote the integrated development of tourism between and toward the Member Countries;

A General Framework of Principles and Provisions for Liberalizing the Trade in Services in the Andean Community was adopted through Decision 439, approved by the Commission at its Ninety-fourth Special Session on June 11, 1998;

Article 15 of that Decision provides for the adoption of Sectorial Decisions in the cases of the liberalization and harmonization of provisions in service sectors or subsectors; and 

Tourism, of itself, is an important industry of interest to the Community and stimulates the development of other production sectors, of both goods and services, in the subregion;

DECIDES:

To approve this

Regime for the Development and Integration of Tourism in the Andean Community

CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS

Article 1.- The following definitions are adopted for purposes of this Regime:

Tourist Authorities: the national agencies responsible for tourism in each of the Member Countries.

Trade in Tourist Services: the provision of a tourist service through any of the following modes:

a) From the territory of one Member Country to the territory of another Member Country;

b) In the territory of a Member Country to a consumer from another Member Country;

c) Through the commercial presence of companies providing tourist services of one Member Country in the territory of another Member Country; and

d) By natural persons from one Member Country in the territory of another Member Country.

Tourist Service provider or supplier: Any natural or juristic person from a Member Country that is equipped to provide or that provides tourist services.

Tourist Services: any tourist service offered or supplied by a tourist service provider, particularly the following:

    Hotels and lodging in other establishments,

    The selling of food and beverages,

    Tourist Operations and Travel and Tourist Agencies,

    Tourist Guides,

    The organization of Congresses, Fairs and Conventions,

    Tourist Transportation and Transportation Rental for Tourism purposes.

CHAPTER II
OBJECTIVES

Article 2.- The general aim of the Regime for the Development and Integration of Tourism shall be to promote the integrated development of tourism between and toward the Member Countries.

It shall have the following specific objectives, as well:

a) To promote tourism between the countries of the subregion, in their border areas, and toward the subregion;

b) To encourage tourism to become an element for the education and promotion of the Andean Community;

c) To foster the creation of consciousness among the citizens about the economic and social importance of tourism for the subregion's development, as well of the quality of the services that should be offered to the tourist;

d) To contribute toward improving and diversifying the subregion's tourist offering;

e) To foster the technical and administrative improvement of human resources connected with the tourist sector in each Member Country;

f) To promote the conservation, recovery and sustained use of natural and cultural resources connected with the tourist sector;

g) To encourage the sustainable development of the tourist offering in the subregion;

h) To help facilitate tourist flows in the subregion;

i) To eliminate restrictions on and obstacles to tourist services and the providers of tourist services and to foster the harmonization of the necessary provisions for creating the Andean common tourist market; and

j) To help create the conditions for facilitating the use of technologies geared toward improving the competitiveness of the providers of tourist services in the subregion.

CHAPTER III
SPHERE OF APPLICATION

Article 3.- This Regime is applicable to all tourist services and to the measures affecting them, from the public, central, regional or local sector or from those institutions appointed for that purpose, as well as to tourist development and facilitation programs.

CHAPTER IV
LIBERALIZATION AND HARMONIZATION

Article 4.- Without detriment to the application of the principles and commitments established in Decision 439 , each Member Country shall give the tourist services and the providers of tourist services of the other Member Countries free access to its market and national treatment by any of the modes of provision stipulated in the definition on trade in services contained in article 1 of this Decision.

Article 5.- Measures in disagreement with the principles cited in the previous article that were being applied in Member Countries when Decision 439 came into effect, shall be recorded in an inventory to be prepared by the Member Countries with the assistance of the General Secretariat. This inventory, together with the corresponding liberalization schedule, shall be presented for the approval of the Andean Community Commission no later than September 30, 1999.

Article 6.- The Member Countries, through Decisions approved by the Commission, shall adopt common regimes for harmonizing, confirming, and recognizing tourist service activities and providers.

CHAPTER V
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Article 7.- The Member Countries shall, in a coordinated way, further continuing programs, projects and actions for promotion, investment, and technical, economic, social and environmental cooperation in the area of tourism. To that end, Tourist Authorities in the Member Countries shall identify projects of Community interest based on economic, commercial, social and environmental criteria, that are aimed at contributing to the achievement of the objectives set out in article 2 of this Decision.

Article 8.- Among the projects referred to in the previous article, those concerning the growth of tourism between the subregional countries and/or in the border areas shall be given priority. The corresponding official agencies shall seek to channel public investments and promote private investments for the purpose of carrying out these projects.

Article 9.- The Member Countries may, in accordance with their domestic legislation, establish fiscal, financial, and administrative mechanisms to back up the effective execution of projects of Community interest.

CHAPTER VI
TOURIST FACILITATION

Article 10.- The Member Countries shall adopt measures designed to facilitate and promote tourism between them and shall grant national tourists from the Andean Countries and foreign tourists treatment that will facilitate their circulation throughout the subregion.

Article 11.- The Member Countries, with the assistance of the General Secretariat, shall prepare, before December 31, 1999, an inventory of barriers and obstacles to the flow of tourists in the subregion. Such barriers and obstacles must be removed by December 31, 2002 at the latest, through actions taken by the National Tourist Authorities in coordination with the competent national agencies in that area.

Article 12.- The Tourist Authorities of the Member Countries, with the support of the General Secretariat, shall advance actions geared toward improving the collection and processing of tourist information in the subregion and shall facilitate the establishment of an Andean statistical information system on tourism that will furnish information about the tourist supply and demand in the Member Countries.

CHAPTER VII
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Article 13.- The Member Countries and the General Secretariat shall negotiate with subregional and international organizations to obtain funding and international technical cooperation that shall contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this Decision.

CHAPTER VIII
ANDEAN COMMITTEE OF TOURIST AUTHORITIES

Article 14.- The Andean Committee of Tourist Authorities (CAATUR) shall be an Advisory Technical Body to the General Secretariat and shall be made up of representatives of the national agencies responsible for tourism in each Member Country. CAATUR shall meet at least twice a year

Article 15.- CAATUR shall have the following responsibilities:

a) To promote the preparation and implementation of action programs on tourism development and integration and foster the facilitation of tourist flows in the subregion, in keeping with the objectives of this Decision, as well as of the other Andean provisions that have a direct bearing on the subregional tourist sector;

b) To put forward recommendations for drafting Decisions about tourist issues;

c) To foster the coordination of the Member Countries in international forums on tourist issues; and

d) To draw up and approve its own Regulations.

Article 16.- Representatives of the national and subregional private sector and representatives of international organizations that may be interested in the growth and strengthening of the Andean tourist sector may attend CAATUR meetings.

CHAPTER IX
FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 17.- The Tourist Authorities shall identify coordinated actions with the competent authorities in areas connected with tourism for the purpose of advancing programs that contribute to its facilitation and the development of the tourist sector in the subregion.

Article 18.- This Decision shall be carried out within the general framework established by Decision 439 and all of the principles and commitments established in the latter are applicable to it.

Article 19.- Decision 171 and all other Decisions that are contrary to this Decision are hereby annulled.

Promulgated in the city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on the twenty-fifth of May of nineteen ninety-nine.