In September, President Toledo of Peru and President Uribe met in Bogota and said that the treaty would be signed off by the end of October, but the 12th Round of negotiations in Cartagena showed that divisions still remained.

It is not likely to be signed off now until at least December.  Chief US negotiator, Regina Vargo even mooted the second half of 2006 for concluding negotiations which caused shudders in Andean Government circles as the deadline for the end of preferential trade tariffs ends in December 2006.

Meanwhile protests across Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia grew in strength despite seemingly desperate attempts by some Government officials to label opposition as “drug-traffickers and “terrorists.”

Ecuador slows pace

As the 12th round of negotiations began, Chief Colombian negotiator said that the talks were 85% concluded, with President Uribe saying that provided a few changes were made in agriculture, “we will sign and sign quickly.”

Only the Ecuadorian delegation showed more restraint with their Chief Negotiator Manuel Chiriboga, stating that they would follow their “own rhythm” and were yet to agree on key areas related to intellectual property. This caused Peruvian and Colombian delegations to even talk of signing a deal without Ecuador. One Government official involved in the talks said “[This response] gives the impression that Colombia and Peru want to conclude negotiations at whatever cost while Ecuador stands firm.”

TLC not a US priority?

However it would also appear that the US does not share the same timetable as Peru and Colombia. Free Trade is proving increasingly hard to sell in the US, which was shown recently by the extremely close vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) held in July (217 votes against 215).

The US is investing much of its time currently in WTO talks in the run up to the summit in December. Meanwhile the Bush administration is dealing with heavy criticism for both its response to Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing spiral of violence in Iraq. A free trade agreement with Andean states is clearly not the US’s top priority.  

Road blockades in Ecuador

However the pressure on the Andean Governments is also increasingly coming from its own population. In Ecuador on the second day of talks (20 Sept), thousands of campesinos blocked around 30 roads demanding an end to free trade talks.

According to Bayron Garces, President of the Campesino Popular Front, 40,000 people took part. “This is just a warning to President Alfredo Palacio so that he stops his practice of being deaf to our demands. If he doesn’t listen, the protest will be indefinite.” In Quito, a popular consultation was held on the treaty reflecting the popular campaign for a referendum on the Free Trade Treaty. “This treaty is a threat to more than 3 million Ecuadorians,” said César Cabrera, leader of a campesino movement.

Artists join farmers and students in Colombia

In Colombia, thousands took to the streets of Cartagena in a huge march against the treaty on the 22nd September. Amongst the protests, a student was shot by police. Farmers’ movements have come out particularly strongly against the agreement saying that the proposed treaty fails to deal with the high levels of subsidies in the US and will threaten their livelihoods.

They were joined by a series of artists, concerned at revelations by the Ministry of Commerce at possible changes in government regulations which currently ensure a percentage of TV broadcasts are sourced nationally. Actors and many other artists expressed concerns that this would lead to an influx of commercialized US culture drowning out national voices.

Colombian congressman, Jorge Enrique Robledo announced plans to hold the Colombian government to account for treason. He noted that articles 455 and 457 in Legal Code had drastic penalties of up to 540 months in prison for those committed acts which put Colombia in part or as a whole under foreign domination.

Population says no in Peru...

In Peru, farmers joined workers, artist and various social movements in protesting against concessions on agriculture, medicines and culture. A referendum organized by Health Forum carried out with 1408 workers, patients and visitors to a number of hospitals showed that 96.2% were opposed to Peru signing a Free Trade Agreement with the US based on current negotiations.

..and Peruvian government calls them terrorists

Rattled by growing opposition, the Peruvian Government lashed out. Alfredo Ferrero, Minister of Commerce said that “those who oppose the treaty are in favour of drug-trafficking and terrorism.”  Despite widespread criticism, he refused to back down on his comments.

Luis Zúñiga, leader of a farmers’ movement, CONVEAGRO replied: “What the Minister needs to know is that if we sign a Free Trade Agreement like the one we are negotiating, this will cause more poverty in the countryside and this will force farmers into the forest, which we know leads to the development of terrorism and drug-trafficking.”

Intellectual property - the big issue on the table

The big issue for the talks was Intellectual Property. In particular, there was disagreement on a US proposal to extend the “Dates of Proof” (which is when the formulas for medicines and agro-chemicals are made public) to five and ten years respectively. This would give increased protection to US patented products and undermine the thriving generics medicine industry throughout the Andean region.

A report by a Peruvian research body (Cordes) revealed that merely applying this particular policy would lead to the country paying between 70 and 100 million dollars annually and would double the costs of some medicines. According to the Colombia National Pharmaceutical Association (ASINFAR), prices could even go up four times in Colombia where generic medicines represent two-thirds of medicines used by the population.

However there were also disagreements on the scope of patents and the theme of patenting biodiversity. As Luis Alonso García, Head of Peru’s Intellectual Property team explained: “The US allows its inventors to patent modifications in the genes of plants and animals as well as patent therapeutic, surgical and diagnostic techniques and patents of secondary use. Our legislation excludes patents of these areas… We are looking to see how to reconcile our positions.”

Ruben Espinoza, representative of the Ministry of Health said that accepting patents for secondary use (ie for new applications of existing products) would give patent protection of 20 years for medicines that were already in use. “We shouldn’t accept this in the same way that England, China, Chile and CAFTA nations refused when they were consulted.”

Colombian negotiators resign

But the likelihood of Andean Government negotiators signing a treaty that would go against the interests of its population was shown most starkly when three Colombian Government negotiators resigned on 23rd September saying that their technical expertise was being ignored. “The phase of political decisions has started now that the US has demonstrated the impossibility of negotiating with Andean nations in a way that respects their interests.” They also stated that in the negotiations there “had been no significant advance based on the interests of Colombians.”

Francisco Sagasti, former director of planning for the World Bank, in an interview to a Peruvian paper said that the way the US was negotiating was “unacceptable”. “How can you put a gun to the chest and say accept this or we go, that’s not negotiation, it’s imposition.”

Disagreements on re-manufactured goods

Besides intellectual property, there were also disagreements on access to re-manufactured goods. These are used products where parts have been replaced. The US is keen to export goods such as machinery, equipment, fridges and other electrical equipment.  They rejected a list presented by the Andean nation of 292 remanufactured products that could be imported saying it was totally insufficient. The US has a list of 1400 products it wants included. The Andean nations responded with an increased offer that has yet to be made public.

Bolivia still an observer

Bolivia remained an observer at the talks, although it fielded a large delegation prompting discussion of its likely entry as a full member. The Political and Economic Advisor to the US embassy for Bolivia, Todd Chapman said that the US was open to Bolivia joining as a full participant at the “appropriate time.” However Charles Shapiro, Under Secretary for the Western Hemisphere in the US States Department said that “There are still many things that Bolivia needs to resolve,” saying that there was still a lack of “internal political consensus.” A statement of fact by the US embassy that for once the Bolivian Movement against TLC and ALCA would agree with.