Colombian president asks congress to fast track FTA with US
Feb 7, 2007
Colombian President Asks Congress To Fast Track FTA With US
By Diana Delgado, Dow Jones Newswires
BOGOTA -(Dow Jones)- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday asked Congress to fast track a free trade agreement with the U.S., saying prompt approval is a "necessity" because the U.S. is Colombia’s main trading partner.
In a letter to the presidents of both houses of Congress as well to members of committees that will debate the bill, Uribe wrote: "The prompt approval of the free trade bill between Colombia and the U.S. has become a necessity for this country as the U.S. is Colombia’s main trade partner."
In the letter, published by the government’s SNE press agency, Uribe also wrote that approval of the agreement is needed to continue to bring in foreign investment "necessary to guarantee a sustainable economic growth."
If Congress accepts the fast-track request, the bill will be debated and approved in three instead of four debates to become a law.
Under that condition, the committees of both the Senate and the Lower House will debate and vote the trade deal together. Then, the plenary of the chambers will debate and vote the bill separately.
Commerce and Industry Ministry spokeswoman Lucy Samper said there is no date for the debate to start.
The agreement is likely to be approved since Uribe’s allies control two-thirds of both houses.
Wilson Borja, spokesman for Colombian opposition party Polo Democratico and a member of the lower house committee that deals with the FTA bill, has said his party will oppose the bill.
In November, Colombia and the U.S. signed a free trade agreement to replace and extend existing trade preferences, known as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, or ATPDEA.
ATPDEA is slated to run out at the end of the year. Analysts have said that without a free trade agreement in place, the country would lose its special access to U.S. markets.
