CAFTA Committee Report to National Assembly Still Not Released

Carlos Noguera, chair of the special committee on CAFTA in Nicaragua's National Assembly, said that CAFTA "should not be contaminated with political questions." However, the two main parties in the Assembly, the Liberal and the Sandinista, have not come to any accord on a committee report on legislation implementing the agreement.

Among the demands that the committee has made to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is for the ministry to present a proposal addressing legislators' concerns in the areas of labor, the environment, "sensitive" agricultural products, medicines, and small and medium-sized businesses.

In March, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry promised to have bills ready for consideration by the National Assembly by June in several areas, including a biodiversity bill and reforms to the trade code, the environmental code, the intellectual property law, and the free trade zones law.

Noguera said that he is waiting for those bills before he will send to the Assembly secretary the committee's majority opinion on CAFTA prepared by the Constitutional Liberal Party. "When these are sent our requirements will have been met," he said, adding, "CAFTA is a good instrument for the development of Nicaragua. Not ratifying it would be to vote to isolate the country in a way that would not be wise." In contrast, the Sandinista Party has promised to release a minority opinion against CAFTA-implementing legislation.

CAFTA has yet to be voted on in the US Congress due to a lack of a majority in favor. Please keep up the pressure on your Senators and Representatives to vote against CAFTA.