ISDS Case Map
Colombia
Colombian Agriculture Minister Andres Fernandez admitted Thursday that his country's free trade agreement with the European Union, due to be signed next week, will adversely affect more than 400,000 farming families across Colombia, reports Caracol.
The European Union is eager to sign free-trade agreements under the Spanish presidency between the EU and MERCOSUR, Central America and Peru and Colombia. Farmer’s organizations from both Latin American countries and Europe are united in their opposition to the talks.
The time is now to stop the Conservatives and Liberals who are trying to rush through a harmful free trade agreement with Colombia without properly assessing its potential impact on human rights, workers and the environment.
Increasing trade between Canada and Colombia would help fight drug traffickers and improve human rights in the South American country, says Saskatchewan MP Brad Trost. But critics say the country’s poor human-rights record should put any free-trade plans on hold.
Colombian Trade Minister Luis Guillermo Plata said Canadian exporters may gain as US lawmakers delay approval of a free-trade agreement with the Latin American country.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Thursday it was doubtful that the House this year will take up pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is pushing President Barack Obama to win congressional approval of a long-delayed free trade deal before Uribe leaves office in August, the top Colombian trade official said on Wednesday.
Colombia's minister of trade, industry and tourism, Luis Guillermo Plata, announced Tuesday that the country has reached the "final stages" of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada, reports Caracol Radio.
The Colombian market for Canadian beef, worth about $6 million per year, has just been reopened in the context of the proposed Canada-Colombia FTA, after being closed since 2003 due to BSE in Canadian cattle.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged Thursday to renew a push for a free trade agreement with Colombia, reaffirming US support for its closest ally in Latin America during a visit to Bogotá.
