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Andean
Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPDEA/ATPA)
The Andean Trade Preference Act—now known as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act-- was enacted in 1991 as a program to promote economic development in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It offers duty exemption on certain goods when entering US markets. The official intent of Andean is to strengthen local industries in an effort to combat the problem of drug production and trafficking in the region. The ILRF took a strong stance against the original enactment of the Andean Trade Preference Act, since labor provisions in this free trade agreement are not enforceable. This is of particular concern since one of its participating countries is Colombia.
See ILRF’s testimony to the USTR regarding Andean
Currently, ILRF is involved in conceptualizing innovative ways to link labor rights to Andean in a more enforceable manner. We are interested in the potential for Andean benefits to be granted on a sector-by-sector approach. This would enable sectors with strong labor rights commitments to be rewarded with duty-free access to markets while restricting this access to sectors involved in the aforementioned abuses.
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Video
This interview was done in November 2006 in Colombia by the US Labor Education in the Americas Project. Stella is a flower worker at a Dole plantation just outside of Bogota.