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Colombian official pushes for FTA ratification

Columbia’s ambassador to the U.S. is warning that, unless the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries is ratified soon, U.S. ag exports to Columbia will continue to decline.

Ambassador Carolina Barco points out that, since 2002, Colombia has gone from having two FTA’s with five countries to currently having 11 FTAs with 47 countries.  Barco says Colombia has a preference to deal with the U.S. as a way to strengthen Colombia’s economy.  But she says the lack of a ratified FTA with the U.S. definitely has a cost if it’s not carried out.  U.S. ag exports to Colombia in 2008 were nearly one-point-two billion dollars.  But they dropped to roughly 600-million dollars in 2009, with corn and wheat seeing the biggest losses.