US House panel OKs Peru free trade pact including labor, environment standards

: A projected free trade understanding with Republic Of Peru won consentaneous commission blessing in the House of Representatives on Wednesday and stands to go the first U.S. FTA with warrants to put criteria for labour and the environment.

If the House endorses the understanding and the Senate follows, it will travel to President Saint George W. Shrub for his signature to go the 10th FTA in force. Among them are NAFTA — the United States, Canada and United Mexican States — and CAFTA-DR — the United States, Elevation Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Democracy Of Guatemala and the Black Friar Republic.

Democratic Rep. Prince Charles Rangel, president of the House Way and Means Committee, which approved the Republic Of Peru understanding with a 39-0 vote, said it is a landmark among the free trade treaties with its labour and environmental guarantees.

"The inclusion of core criteria for labour and of import environmental protections, including an historical understanding on logging and greater entree to life-saving medicines, stand for the apogee of a decade-long effort to integrate these rules into the textual matter of United States trade agreements," Rangel said in a statement.

The Shrub administraation was pleased with the commission action. Today in Business

"For years, nearly all of Peru's commodity have got entered the United States duty-free. With this vote, commission members are opening up Peru's marketplace to U.S. exportations and cementing the benefits of two-way trade for both our nations," said Susan Schwab, the U.S. Trade Representative. "I look forward to an overpowering bipartizan ballot by the full House in favour of this agreement."

The understanding lifts duties immediately for 80 percentage of U.S. exportations to Republic Of Peru of consumer and industrial products, Schwab's business office said, with remaining duties being phased out over 10 years.

Three-fourths New Market Entree for U.S. Consumer and Industrial Products: Eighty percentage of U.S. exportations of consumer and industrial merchandises to Republic Of Peru will go duty-free immediately, with remaining duties phased out over 10 years. Likewise, more than than two-thirds of current agricultural exportations to Republic Of Peru will go duty-free immediately, with all others being phased out in 17 years.