Concerned about U.S. trade policy in the Americas? Alarmed about the rapid negotiations that are now taking place between the United States and Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (and potentially with Bolivia) for a free trade agreement?

Urge suspension of negotiations. Here are suggestions of reasonable demands and their rational:

The negotiations to date have been conducted in secret, with no negotiating texts available for public comment and virtually no consultations with civil societies in the countries involved in the talks. Few Americans have any idea that the U.S. government is currently negotiating an Andean trade agreement. In this election year and beyond, it is imperative that the U.S. public know the issues before them in order to judge wisely the future course of trade for the U.S. in this region.

While USTR has indicated that it hopes to complete the Andean negotiations before Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) might expire in 2005, there is no reason to ?fast track? this agreement without broad participation and meaningful dialogue with the U.S. public. It does not make sense to rush the Andean talks to meet an artificial deadline. TPA is not a prerequisite for submitting trade agreements to Congress, and Congress has approved trade agreements negotiated without TPA in the past.

Furthermore, it seems unwise to complete the negotiations for an agreement that could change considerably in the coming year. Trade policy is a subject of heated debate in Congress and in the current election. Our trade policies should reflect the outcomes of this important debate, not be rushed through prematurely to avoid it.

All indications are that this agreement is being negotiated along the lines of NAFTA, the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, all of which contain provisions on investment, intellectual-property rights, agriculture, services, labor and environment that have proven to be disastrous for the majority of the populations involved. In the case of NAFTA, ten years of experience has led to stagnant or falling wages, job losses, and threats to environmental and other public-interest laws in Mexico, the United States and Canada. We oppose the extension of this failed model to other countries.

We are especially concerned that the extension of the NAFTA model to the Andean region would undermine small-scale farmers and other producers, thus forcing more people into the production of illegal crops and exacerbating existing political and economic tensions in the Andean region.

For these reasons, we urge the suspension of the U.S.-Andean FTA negotiations and a review the real impacts of existing trade agreements on the economies, environments and societies involved.