Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Nicaragua Becomes Sixth Nation to Approve CAFTA

The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the United States have approved the pact. As negotiators continue working to resolve outstanding issues including questions on textiles, Costa Rica remains the only CAFTA-DR country to sign. 

In an Associated Press report, Carlos Noguera, head of a legislative commission that studied the pact, says CAFTA's approval will help accomplish "demands of employment, production, health and education for Nicaraguans."

Also in the AP report, Industry Secretary Azucena Castillo says CAFTA was "the first document in 20 years that opens the door to Nicaraguan economic revitalization. We have to take advantage of it."

President George W. Bush signed CAFTA-DR Aug. 2. CAFTA-DR provides immediate duty-free access to more than half of all U.S. agricultural exports to the region and will enhance U.S. agricultural exports by $1.5 billion when fully implemented.

Agriculture organizations have touted the benefits this agreement provides to agriculture, including:

• Increasing agriculture exports by $900 million annually
• Immediate elimination of duties on more than 80% of U.S. exports
• Increasing exports of U.S. manufactured exports by approximately $3 billion annually
• Opening markets to give our growers access to important markets.