Representatives of Bolivia s government and private sector are in the United States capital, Washington, D.C., to lobby legislators for another extension of trade benefits afforded under the expiring Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA). The U.S. treaty, which includes Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, was due to expire in December 2006, but U.S. lawmakers agreed to renew the pact until July this year. Participating countries enjoy preferential access to the U.S. market in return for supporting the superpower in its so-called War on Drugs .
Significance: The U.S. Congress is still divided over the future of free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia and Peru although a bipartisan pact between Republicans and Democrats on trade issues improved their prospects last week (see Latin America: 11 May 2007: ). An interim extension of the ATPDEA is anticipated. A renewal of the agreement proved necessary after Ecuador s talks towards a FTA collapsed, Colombian and Peruvian FTAs stalled in the U.S. Congress and Bolivia failed to be elevated above observer status in the talks. Bolivia s leftist Evo Morales government has expressed its hostility to a U.S. FTA, while Ecuador s Rafael Correa has ruled out such an accord completely.Global Insight
