The US Senate Finance Committee approved the Dominican Republic – Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the US Wednesday, leaving it ready for debate in the Senate – possibly before the 4th of July recess. During the vote, the treaty received the support of Democratic Senator Jeff Bingman from New Mexico, one of the members who had opposed it most vehemently in the panel. He decided to support the agreement after receiving replies from President George W. Bush regarding the lack of attention to labor rights in the associate countries. Also, the government informed that it would allocate some US$30 million during five years as aid to farmers at risk of being affected by the increase in agricultural goods imports.
The DR-CAFTA agreement was sent to Congress by Bush last week. The House of Representatives has 60 legislative days to approve or reject it, and the Senate has 90 days. It seems that DR-CAFTA will not have difficulty being approved by the Senate, but it still faces strong opposition in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the US government has reached an agreement with lawmakers who opposed the DR-CAFTA to compensate the sugar industry for the quotas included in the treaty, according to Senator Saxby Chambliss. The agreement with Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johannes and Trade Representative, Rob Portman, consists of using the sugar imported through the DR-CAFTA in an ethanol pilot program.