U.S.-Chile FTA On Weakened Track, Say Groups

February 15, 2002

Forty agricultural and agribusiness entities are expressing "deep concern that the United States and Chile might conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) without having satisfactorily resolved certain issues necessary for a successful outcome." All members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees received letters urging close monitoring of the negotiations.

The coalition emphasized that "under WTO rules, a free trade agreement must be a vehicle for eliminating trade barriers and facilitating trade, not a pretense for legitimizing illegal restrictions and/or an excuse for erecting new barriers. Any free trade agreement with Chile should be conditioned on elimination of its price band system, illegitimate sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, and unjustifiable technical barriers to trade."

In the last category, the American Meat Institute, one of the groups signing the letter, says it is particularly concerned that Chile currently permits only beef graded to Chilean standards to be sold in Chile. This rule effectively bars U.S. beef from the Chilean market. Chile's beef grading requirement -- and other "illegal measures that restrict imports of U.S. agricultural products" -- should be rescinded before any FTA is signed, the groups said.