US, Central American countries add green provisions to FTA
AFP, Washington
The United States and Central American nations on Friday added provisions aimed at protecting the environment in a seven-nation free trade agreement. Only El Salvador has ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) so far. Several opposition Democrats in the US Congress are against the pact. Officials on Friday praised the additional agreement on environmental protection. "It is a compromise reached in favor of the environment," said the Dominican Republic's ambassador to the United States, Flavio Espinal. In addition to El Salvador and the United States, CAFTA includes Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, and the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic. The CAFTA-Dominican Republic area is a larger US export market than Russia, India and Indonesia combined, according to the US Trade Representative's office. The United States exports more than 15 billion dollars in goods to the region every year.
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