Bush, Congress close to trade pact deal: Lawmaker

Washington, Apr 24: The White House and the US Congress are close to a deal on labor and other issues that have blocked approval of free trade pacts with Peru, Colombia and Panama, a senior Democratic lawmaker said.

''We're very hopeful by the end of the week ... we can overcome the last obstacle that we have,'' House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, said in a speech yesterday.

A deal would bring the White House one step closer to its goal of enacting the three trade agreements, while giving Democrats a victory on several important issues for their constituencies, particularly labour.

Democrats want the administration to modify the agreements with Peru, Colombia and Panama to include an enforceable commitment to abide by core International Labor Organization standards, such as freedom from child labor, freedom from slave labour and the right to organize and bargain collectively.

What Democrats are proposing is consistent with a 1998 ILO declaration the United States has already signed, Rangel said.

Business groups have been concerned the proposed change would allow US labor groups and others to encourage the three countries to challenge US labour laws.

Rangel and Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, downplayed that possibility in remarks at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

''We're not trying to change US laboUr laws through an FTA (free trade agreement),'' Levin said. A foreign government could only challenge a labor practice that it believes gives the United States an unfair trade advantage, he said.

But at the same time, it would be hypocritical to include a ''safe harbor'' provision ensuring US laws could not be challenged at all, Levin argued.

''A safe harbor sends the wrong message to what we're about,'' Levin said.

Lawmakers and the Bush administration also are close to a deal on language to ensure that patent provisions of the trade pacts do not prevent poor people in the three countries from having access to life-saving drugs, Rangel said.

After the speech, Rangel told reporters it was possible talks with the administration could continue next week.

If a deal is reached, the next step would be for US. trade negotiators to persuade the three countries to accept the changes, Rangel and Levin said.

Reuters>