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EL SALVADOR FIRST TO IMPLEMENT CAFTA, AND FIRST TO FEEL THE HEAVY HAND OF ITS NEW PARTNER.

Article Excerpt
First to ratify the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), El Salvador became on March 1 the first and only country in which the agreement is actually in force. US Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman announced the event after El Salvador acceded to last-minute, post-negotiation changes in the texts of the agreement that were assumed to have been closed. Opposition to the changes has been widespread, both internally and among onlookers in the other CAFTA countries. The Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) has taken the matter to court to overturn the treaty. In neighboring Guatemala, Enrique Lacs, vice minister of foreign trade, said, "The US negotiation practices have been wretched."

Grassley presses Portman

Among the changes to which El Salvador bowed was one on meat inspections demanded by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a powerful farm-state advocate (see NotiCen, 2003-10-02). In January, Grassley leaned on Portman to delay CAFTA implementation for any country that does not accept primacy of the US meat-inspection system over its own. The effect of this rule would be that meat certified in the US could enter the countries without having to pass local inspection. This requirement has been hard to swallow, not only for the CAFTA countries but also for Panama, which is negotiating a separate bilateral deal with the US and where the requirement led to a breakdown in the process (se NotiCen, 2006-02-23).

Grassley was ebullient in accepting victory. "I'm glad El Salvador has made this decision. The US meat-inspection system ensures the safety of US meat, and it's good El Salvador...

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