Colombia Needs to Build on Labor Rights Progress, Says the White House
The Colombian government continues to elevate labor and environmental standards, but more progress can be achieved, said Vice President Joe Biden during joint remarks with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Bogotá, Colombia on June 18. Some lawmakers and advocacy groups have recently criticized insufficient progress on a Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights, a pact put into force in tandem with the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA). The critics say violence and intimidation against labor activists continues unabated (see 14040807).
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The U.S. and Colombia will meet regularly throughout 2014, and challenges do remain in the pact’s implementation, said the White House in a fact sheet released in conjunction with the Biden remarks. But the U.S. and Colombia continue to mutually benefit from increased trade liberalization through the shared FTA, said the fact sheet. “Since the 2012 entry into force of the Colombia-U.S. Trade Promotion Agreement, U.S. exports have increased 13.8 percent and U.S. foreign direct investment in Colombia has increased 30.3 percent,” said the fact sheet. “Colombia diversified its export base with 1,609 companies exporting goods to the United States for the first time. This growth has created jobs in both countries and assisted both small and international businesses.”