The first letter (dated 7 November 2005) from the Congress of the US to Ambassador Robert Portman of the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) expresses concerns with respect to the central impasses in the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) between the US, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru after the 11th round of negotiations.

The central concerns expressed relate to agriculture, intellectual property and labor and the question of whether the AFTA will promote economic development within the three developing countries or whether it will bring further insecurity, instability and unemployment.

With regards to agriculture, the letter questions whether increased demands upon these countries will lead to increased coca production and consequentially transnational crime, thus undermining the US anti-drugs policy and call for alternative development.  In Colombia the effects of the AFTA, ensuing tariff reduction and hence lack of sufficient support for and protection of, production and trade in agriculture, are predicted to be increased migration, the expansion of drug cultivation zones, and an increased affiliation with illegal armed groups.

The extension of patient protections and intellectual property jeopardizes access to affordable medicines.  In Peru, “700,000 to 900,000 people would be excluded from access to medicines under the agreement unless the budget of the Ministry of Hea1th were substantially increased”.  

Consequences for labor rights in countries where there exists a weak labor code (for example in Colombia where there is a high level of violence against trade unionists) are the limitation of the right to free association and to join trade unions, the right to bargain and collectively strike as employers are enabled to “circumvent trade unions and bargain directly with employees or with non-union associations”.

The second letter (dated 10 November 2005) from the Congress of the US to Ambassador Robert Portman of the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) expresses further concern for intellectual property in the negotiations of the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), concern “that the intellectual property (IP) standards for pharmaceuticals established by this and other recent agreements could undermine balance between innovation and access to medicines and affordable health care”.  Thus the letter pleads the US, as the leading figure in the negotiations, to promote drug innovation and safeguard health care.

Both letters express the need for trade agreements but call for greater attention to central concerns.  “Certainly, no one is opposed to the expansion of economic relations with the Andean region. We must ensure, however, that our trade policies with the Andean region are mutually beneficial and promote growth and employment opportunity for all parties.”

(Letters originally received from Liana Cisneros, Oficial de Campañas e Incidencia para América Sur, Oxfam UK.)