US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA8415

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 008415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PLS PASS USTR FOR AMB JOHNSON, AUSTR VARGO AND DAUSTR 
HARMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, CO, FTA 
SUBJECT: TOLEDO SUCCESSFULLY PRESSES URIBE TO CLOSE 
US-ANDEAN FTA IN OCTOBER 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified - please protect accordingly 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  President Uribe and Peruvian President 
Toledo met in Bogota on September 5 to discuss the future of 
the FTA.  According to the GOC, Toledo told Uribe that his 
government was willing to conclude the Free Trade Agreement 
(FTA) with the U.S. by October and preferred not to do so 
alone.  Toledo pressed Uribe to be more flexible on 
agriculture and to remove all but the most sensitive issues 
in the other chapters.  The GOC,s impression was that Peru 
was close to agreeing to positions already on the table for 
almost all the disciplines.  During a press conference after 
the event, the presidents expressed their support for an FTA, 
acknowledged the difficulty of the agriculture negotiations, 
and Toledo stated that while there still were some 
outstanding issues, especially in agriculture, October should 
be the month to close the negotiations.  Uribe extolled the 
virtues of the agreement, stating that it could add as much 
as two percentage points of growth per year.  Uribe seems to 
have clearly understood the urgency to end the negotiations 
by October and has reportedly instructed his Agricultural and 
Trade Ministers traveling to Washington to lay all 
Colombia,s cards on the table. End summary 
 
The Peruvians arrive en masse 
 
2.  (SBU) President Toledo, accompanied by his Prime 
Minister, Trade Minister, Agriculture Minister, as well as 
congressmen and business represented arrive in Bogota 
September 5 for a meeting with President Uribe and the 
Colombian negotiating team to discuss the current state of 
play of the negotiations.  According to GOC officials, Toledo 
pressed Uribe hard to move the negotiation forward and close 
by October, stating that it was his understanding that the 
USG felt Colombia's positions were the main stumbling block 
to closing.  Toledo told Uribe that Peru wanted to finish the 
negotiations by October and was ready to do so, however, they 
wanted to do it with Colombia as there was greater synergy 
that way.  Uribe told Toledo that the GOC also wanted to 
conclude an agreement in the shortest time frame possible, as 
approval would take a year, with at least six months in the 
congress and then another six months for a constitutional 
court review.  Uribe told Toledo that Colombia wanted the 
deal ratified before ATPDEA expiration and the only way to 
assure that was conclusion by October and signing 90 days 
after that. 
 
3.  (U) In a press release issued after the meeting, both 
Toledo and Uribe reaffirmed their intention to close the FTA 
negotiations in October.  Uribe defended the importance of 
the agreement to Colombia,s growth (adding possibly two 
percentage points of growth per year).  Both explained how 
the meeting had been very important in clarifying the 
positions of both countries towards the negotiations.  They 
also stated that they had spoken with Ecuador,s President 
Palacio during the meeting, and that Palacio had clearly 
explained Ecuador,s position. 
 
Colombian assessment of Peru,s position 
 
4.  (SBU) According to Colombian officials, the GOP pushed 
for closing as many tables as possible at the Cartagena round 
the week of September 19, and the Colombian perception is 
that the Peruvians are willing to accept many of the 
proposals currently on the table at this time.  In 
agriculture, Peru,s main concerns center on rice, corn and 
sugar.  In general, Toledo, visit was seen as a wake-up call 
to the Colombians that while Peru would prefer to move 
forward with Colombia, they did not feel bound to do so. 
 
5.  (SBU) The Colombians are wary of Peru's moving ahead of 
them, but they feel that Peru may be pulled back by concern 
about getting a worse deal than those who stay longer in the 
negotiations (as happened in the Mercosur ) Andean free 
trade agreement).  The GOC feels that while Peru is 
definitely out in front, that does not necessarily mean they 
are within closing distance. 
 
Current views on FTA in Colombia 
 
6.  (SBU) Colombian Minister of Commerce Botero and Minister 
of Agriculture Arias will be meeting with high level 
officials at USTR and USDA on September 9 with a renewed 
sense of urgency to move the negotiations forward.  They will 
be asking for additional flexibility from the U.S. 
negotiators, particularly on less sensitive products and in 
the SPS discussions.  Part of the concern of the GOC is that 
lack of movement on their export interests like fruits and 
vegetables are giving ammunition to opponents of the 
agreement, who argue that the U.S. negotiators are offering 
Colombia less access than currently provided under ATPDEA 
preferences. 
 
7. (SBU) The Colombian agricultural sector feels that the 
U.S. owes Colombia a response for the offers currently on the 
table.  The Colombian private and public sectors estimate 
that with the latest offer, Colombia has offered the US over 
USD 500 million in immediate agricultural market access (this 
includes wheat which they calculate could be worth $200 
million in access for the U.S.), and the US has offered less 
than USD 1 million in new market access. (We have pointed out 
to the Colombians that we disagree with this analysis, but 
this analysis is the one shaping the Colombian position.) 
 
Comment 
 
8. (SBU) The Toledo visit may have served to underscore to 
the Colombian public and private sector that the time to move 
forward on the FTA is at hand.  The message that Peru wants 
to move forward rang through loud and clear, as did the fact 
that while Peru wanted to move forward with Colombia, it did 
not feel bound to do so. President Uribe is determined to 
move the negotiations forward and sees October as a hard 
deadline.  To that end, he ordered the Trade and Agriculture 
ministers to be clear in their meetings in Washington about 
Colombia,s red lines and clearly state the bottom line on 
the most sensitive issues (septel).  End comment. 
WOOD