Andean Trade Act Extended

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved and sent to the White House legislation that would extend for 10 months a trade promotion program designed to help four Andean countries reduce their dependence on the cultivation and sale of illegal drugs.

The Senate's voice vote on the Andean Trade Preference Act came just a day before the program, initiated in 1991, was set to expire. President Bush is expected to quickly sign the bill.

"A strong relationship with Latin America is in the best interest of Americans and our economy, as well as the economies and cultures of these key Latin American nations," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Baucus said he planned to monitor the program closely to ensure that the four countries abide by eligibility criteria related to investment, labor rights and drug eradication.

The House on Wednesday also voted by voice to sustain the program that eliminates tariffs on many goods that Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru sell to the United States.

Since the program's inception, U.S. imports from the region have grown from $4.9 billion in 1991 to $22.5 billion in 2006. The House Ways and Means Committee said as many as 2 million jobs in the Andean region may be dependent on the act.

Both Baucus and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., had sought a longer extension for the program but met resistance from Republicans who are pressing Democrats to act this year on a bilateral free trade agreement with Colombia.

The Andean program, which lowers tariffs on U.S. imports but not on American products sold in the region, "is not a substitute for moving toward a reciprocal arrangement that also provides benefits to U.S. exporters," said Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., a committee member.

"Now Congress must take the next step and pass the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement" to remove the disadvantages faced by U.S. products, he said.

Democrats have balked at bringing up the Colombia deal, citing human rights violations in that country.

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The bill is H.R. 5264.

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