Daily News Update, Feb. 1, 2008

Support grows for Colombia trade promotion agreement

NCBA, along with 42 other national agriculture groups, sent a letter to members of Congress on Jan. 28 lauding the benefits of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and urging a vote soon.

Under the Colombia TPA:

     ▪ Prime and choice graded U.S. beef will receive immediate duty-free and quota-free access upon implementation of the agreement.
     ▪ Tariffs on remaining beef tariff lines will be eliminated within 12 years.
     ▪ Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) terms were agreed upon, put into writing, and signed by both parties as part of the negotiations.
     ▪ Colombia has committed to recognize the U.S. meat inspection systems as "equivalent" to its own, thereby allowing imports from facilities approved by USDA.

Passage of the U.S.-Colombia TPA will correct an inequity that exists between U.S. exporters of agricultural and industrial products and Colombian exporters. While 90 percent of Colombian products currently shipped to the United States are free from tariffs, most U.S. exports face significant tariffs or other restrictions in Colombia.

This inequity is due in part to the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), which Congress recently voted to extend. Passage of the Colombia TPA is the only way to resolve this inequity.

Colombia is already an important market for America's farmers and ranchers. In 2006, the United States exported roughly $868 million in agricultural products to Colombia.

Once fully implemented, the U.S.-Colombia TPA could provide an annual gain of as much as $690 million for American agriculture.