Deputy foreign ministers from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, the four nations in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), met on Sunday to study the documents prepared for a CAN summit, Ecuador's foreign ministry said.

The deputy ministers examined the text the group plans to send to the United States calling for an extension of tariff preferences, under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).

The pre-Summit meeting also covers the CAN's position with respect to a proposed association agreement with the European Union. The EU has set a deadline of July 30 for the Andeans to decide how to negotiate a possible free trade pact.

The CAN foreign ministers will begin a daylong meeting on Monday examining the documents that the presidents will sign on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan embassy has not ruled out the possibility that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez could come to the meeting, even though his country has formally withdrawn from the organization.

Source: Xinhua