The US Congress and the Bush administration reached what they said was a "historic" deal Thursday, on including provisions on labor and environmental standards in bilateral free-trade agreements.
Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the pact flanked by key members of President George W. Bush's Republican administration including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
Pelosi said the deal was a "historic occasion," and reflected the will of the American people, as anger at the flight of US jobs overseas to low-cost, developing economies was a factor in the Democratic takeover of Congress last November.
Democrats have pushed for trade deals to address environmental and social issues like protection of workers right to organize and a ban on child labor.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Senator Max Baucus said the deal was a "landmark" in US trade history.
"This is the first time that trade agreements will include enforceable, international, recognized core environmental and labor provisions," Baucus said.
The agreement "gives us a chance to make our trade pacts better deals for US workers, by preventing our trading partners from using substandard labor and environmental practices to unfairly cheapen prices for their goods and services."
Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel meanwhile said that the deal amounted to an agreement on "the US trade policy that has been agreed upon by the US Trade Representative and the US Treasury Secretary."
Baucus's office said the deal would require pending free-trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea to include five core International Labor Organization (ILO) standards incorporated in the 1998 ILO Declaration.
They are: the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively and also include prohibitions on forced labor, protections against child labor and freedom from employment discrimination.
The deal will require the United States and all the four pending FTA partners to adopt laws to implement the obligations in seven multilateral environmental agreements to which they are both parties.
Those pacts include the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances.
The pact sets standards on intellectual property rights, port security and the environment, including a demand that Peru fight against illegal logging.
The US Chamber of Commerce welcomed the bipartisan deal, saying it would secure support for Congressional approval of the four pending bilateral trade agreements.
"It is our hope that this deal can pave the way for a solid majority of members to vote in favor of renewing trade promotion authority and passage of bilateral agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Korea," said Tom Donohue, president and chief executive of the world's largest business federation.
"Over the course of these negotiations, legitimate concerns have been expressed about how addressing labor issues in trade agreements could affect US federal and state labor laws," he said.
"However, we are encouraged by assurances that the labor provisions cannot be read to require compliance with ILO Conventions."
Frank Vargo, vice president of international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, cautiously welcomed the agreement.
"We are encouraged by the progress announced today, but reserve comment on the final package until we have had an opportunity to examine the details," he said.Agence France Presse
