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Colombia and Canada sign free-trade pact
(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Lima, Nov 22 (EFE).- The governments of Colombia and Canada signed a free-trade agreement that guarantees workers' rights and environmental protection in both countries.
That was announced Friday in Lima by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who presided over the signing of the accord at a ceremony parallel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit being hosted by this capital.
Uribe said that "this kind of accord can overcome the violation of human rights in Colombia inflicted by the illegal drug trade."
"The chief human-rights problem in Colombia has come from drug production. Treaties like this offer prosperity and alternatives," said Uribe, a special guest at the APEC Summit since he is the only one attending the event without being from a country that is a member of the organization of leading Pacific-rim nations.
He said that the increase of Colombian exports to Canada that the trade deal will facilitate is "a step forward in confidence."
"We can say that our workers have a new legal institution that protects their rights," he said, adding that this sign of confidence "will help resolve the world economic crisis."
For his part, the Canadian prime minister described the pact as "solid and unprecedented" because, he said, the articles that guarantee workers' protection and care for the environment "open opportunities for exporters" while "backing Colombia's efforts to build democracy."
In that sense, Harper made it clear that this free-trade agreement "supports human rights in Colombia."
The treaty, which has been in negotiations for a year, will provide a preferential market for Colombian exporters, will provide a framework of transparency and security of information and investments and will allow 97 percent of Colombian exports to enter Canada duty free.
Uribe recalled that Colombia has already signed free-trade deals with Mexico and three Central American countries, is negotiating with two other countries in the region and hopes that the U.S. Congress ratifies the trade agreement already signed with Washington.
In that sense, Uribe and Harper agreed that the pact formalized Friday could encourage U.S. lawmakers to give the green light to the free-trade agreement with Colombia very soon.
The Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress has indicated it will not consider approving the trade deal until Bogota makes a serious effort to crack down on the killings that have made Colombia the world's most dangerous country for labor activists.
Uribe is seeking support at the summit for Colombia to join APEC in 2010 when the forum ends its moratorium on accepting new members. EFE
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Copyright ? 2008 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.
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