US Cong to pass Peru trade pact: Lawmaker

Lima, Aug 7: The US Congress will try to approve a free trade deal with Peru in September, a senior Democrat said today during a visit to the Andean country to press for labor protections.

''We have expressed our concerns but we leave convinced that both the United States Congress and the Peruvian Congress enthusiastically support this agreement,'' House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.

''It is a priority when we return to the Congress in September,'' he said after meetings with Peruvian congressional leaders and President Alan Garcia.

Rangel's committee has jurisdiction over trade legislation, giving him a leading role in congressional consideration of an agreement with Peru.

Prior to the visit, the Bush administration had complained that US congressional demands for tougher labor and environmental standards were delaying passage of free trade pacts with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

All four countries have agreed to make changes but Democrats had said they wanted Peru and Panama to implement reforms before Congress votes on the accords.

Rangel, who said there was now broad bipartisan support for the deal in the US Congress, did not say whether Peru's legislature had agreed to implement labor reforms before the vote in Washington.

He and Garcia said the bilateral deal would serve as an example for future free trade accords around the world because it was the first to include a binding commitment to abide by core standards of the International Labour Organization.

''This represents a transformation of global trade rules as it does not just deal with products but also includes basic worker rights,'' Garcia said. ''Everyone benefits instead of just a few.'' Many lawmakers in Washington blame much of the huge U.S.

trade deficit, which hit a record 759 billion dollar in 2006, on unfair foreign practices they believe are costing American jobs.

Peru's government has pushed hard for a deal. Local media reported Labor Minister Susana Pinilla called a Peruvian union boss a ''traitor'' last week for criticizing what he called lax labor rules.

Reuters>