[Ip-health] House committee votes unanimously for Peru trade deal

[Sarah Rimmington]

  House panel votes 39-0 for Peru trade deal

Reuters
Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:21pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3131454520071031

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A free-trade pact with Peru that has been stalled
for nearly two years moved a step closer to final approval on Wednesday
after a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously
backed the deal.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 39-0 in favor of the pact,
which was modified earlier this year to include groundbreaking labor and
environmental provisions demanded by Democrats after they captured
Congress last year.

The panel vote sets the stage for the full House to vote on the pact
next week. The Senate is also expected to approve the deal in coming
weeks. The Senate Finance Committee voted on Oct 4 in favor of the trade
deal.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel hailed the pact
as "the first child" of a more bipartisan approach to trade deals that
he forged with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab earlier this year.

"I'm very happy we have broken a deadlock that we have had for over a
decade," Rangel said, referring to a long-running battle between
Democrats and Republicans on trade.

"I look forward to an overwhelming bipartisan vote by the full House in
favor of this agreement," Schwab said in a statement welcoming the
committee action.

However, Rangel told reporters he did not expect Congress to vote on
other free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea until
at least next year. Each of those pacts has problems that will take time
to resolve, he said.

The deal locks in Peru's duty-free access to the U.S. market under a
long-standing U.S. trade-preference program, creating a more favorable
environment for foreign investment the Andean country wants to help
create jobs.

"With the free trade pact, our economy could grow around 10 percent a
year in the coming years, surpassing the current pace of 8 percent,"
Peru's President Alan Garcia said. He is pushing for other free trade
deals and on Tuesday asked the European Union to start direct trade
talks with his negotiators.

For U.S. business, the deal immediately eliminates duties on 80 percent
of industrial and consumer product exports to Peru and more than
two-thirds of farm exports. Most other duties will be phased out over 10
to 15 years.

LABOR, ENVIRONMENTAL PROVISIONS

The fate of the deal was in doubt after Democrats took charge of
Congress in January. To salvage the pact, the Bush administration and
Peru agreed to changes that strengthen the agreement's labor and
environmental provisions.

The pact boosts protections for workers in both countries by requiring
the two trading partners to adopt, maintain and enforce core
international labor standards, such as the right to bargain collectively
and go on strike.

The United States is already in compliance with that obligation, and
Peru enacted a number of labor reforms in recent months to prepare for
its entry into the pact.

The environmental provisions requires the United States and Peru to
effectively enforce their domestic environmental laws and to honor
international environmental obligations.

For the first time in a U.S. trade agreement, the labor and
environmental commitments also will be enforceable through the same
mechanism as commercial provisions of the pact.

"It is a historic breakthrough," said Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan
Democrat.

The deal requires Peru to open its banking, insurance and other services
markets to more U.S. companies and strengthen copyright, patent and
trademark protections for U.S. products ranging from music to
manufactured goods.

The Bush administration concluded the agreement with Peru in December
2005. A few months later, Peru's neighbor Colombia struck its own deal
with the United States.

The Bush administration wants lawmakers to pass the Colombia agreement
after it finishes work on the Peru pact. Senior Democrats have demanded,
however, that Colombia first show more progress in reducing violence
against trade unionists and bringing their murderers to justice.

(Additional reporting by Terry Wade in Lima)

--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 387-8030
Cell: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/