Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3688, United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3688, UNITED STATES-PERU TRADE PROMOTION AGREE ENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - November 07, 2007)
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Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule and the United States-Peru Free Trade Act.
In the past few weeks, I have heard time and time again from many of my colleagues that the Peru Free Trade Agreement is a groundbreaking agreement crafted by the Ways and Means Committee and the Bush administration. I've been told that this agreement incorporates enforceable obligations that require Peru to adopt and enforce labor standards and uphold international environmental standards. That is a start. But I ask my colleagues, who will enforce the labor standards? Who will enforce the environmental standards? The Bush administration? I don't think so. This administration has a disgraceful record of enforcing trade agreements and trade laws. We cannot assume this administration will now start to enforce trade agreements. Furthermore, this agreement doesn't provide the administration any funding to enforce the free trade agreement if they wanted to. Most importantly, the Peru Free Trade Agreement fails to address food safety, toy safety and drug safety concerns facing our constituents.
As chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I have conducted numerous hearings and investigations on drug and food safety. Our committee found that products are entering our country every minute without appropriate inspection. We found that importers don't know how the product was made and whether the imports are safe. Why do we Americans allow countries to bring their inferior, unsafe toys, food and drugs into our country?
The Peru agreement includes the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. By incorporating the WTO's Sanitary Agreement, the U.S. will be giving up the ability to increase inspection of imports to ensure safety.
The goal of the WTO Sanitary Agreement is to allow free passage of food. This means our food can move freely between the two countries without proper inspection and without proper regulation on how the food is grown, processed, stored or shipped here to the United States.
At a time when we're questioning the ability of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the FDA to protect the health and well-being of our children, our seniors and, indeed, all Americans, I don't think we should be allowing Peru ``free passage'' of food and drugs into the United States.
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We simply cannot afford to pass another harmful trade agreement that fails to protect our families from contaminated foods and drugs and toys.
The changes the proponents of the Peru Free Trade Agreement keep touting are minimal at best, and are inadequate to assure a level playing field for American businesses, American jobs and the American economy but most importantly it does not protect the American people.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting against the Peru Free Trade Agreement.
Protect the American consumer.
Vote no on the final passage.
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