Yonhap News, Korea
USTR says beef can change timing of FTA approval
27 February 2008
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- The United States does not intend to change the order of ratifying the three remaining free trade agreements (FTA), but South Korea's resolution of the beef issue would definitely change the timing of congressional approval of its FTA, the top trade negotiator said Wednesday.
Susan Schwab, the U.S. trade representative (USTR), said the George W. Bush administration still has almost a year left in office. "As you can tell from the State of the Union message, enactment into law of these FTAs is very, very, very high in the president's priorities," she said in a press roundtable with foreign journalists.
"It is fully viable. It is doable to see the enactment of KORUS (Korea-U.S.) FTA into law before end of this term," she said.
Calling on Seoul to quickly reopen its beef market to U.S. products, Schwab said this will affect the ratification.
"We also know that once the beef issue is resolved, there will be a real upswell of support evident on the Part of U.S. constituencies," she said, "and that will help change the tone of the debate, and will affect the timing as well."
Seoul and Washington signed the trade deal in June. South Korea, where supporters outnumber opponents, already submitted the pact for National Assembly approval in September.
The prospects in Washington are less certain as the upcoming presidential election will increasingly dominate the political schedule. A number of influential lawmakers, including those who chair trade-related congressional committees, are withholding their support for the KORUS FTA until the Asian trading partner fully resolve the dispute over its market opening to American beef.
South Korea suspended all U.S. meat imports in late 2003 after a mad cow disease was detected at an American cattle farm. The restrictions were partially lifted in 2006 to allow boneless products, but the imports were suspended after repeated discovery of bone fragments in shipments from the U.S.
Washington is pressing Seoul to adhere to the May ruling by the World Organization for Animal Health, which categorized U.S. beef as "controlled risk," meaning safe for exports, and resume import of all products.
"If we had OIE-consistent beef flowing today, or starting last May, we would have a very different political equation today when it comes to the KORUS FTA," Schwab told reporters, "the point being, the sooner the beef issue is resolved, not only faster we can see the KORUS FTA move, but the stronger the push behind it will have become if we can have some time."
The South Korean FTA is the last of the three remaining agreement up for ratification because of the order in which they were signed. The Colombia deal will be followed by the Panama FTA before the KORUS agreement.
"There is no plan to change the order, and I don't think there is any need to change the order," Schwab said.
"I think the issue is less the order than the picking up the pace and moving ahead expeditiously with all of the FTAs."
