Canada and Colombia came one step closer to finalising a free trade agreement (FTA)this week, with the Canadian House of Commons voting in favour of the deal. The FTA will next be viewed by the Canadian Senate for final approval.

The FTA passed with an amendment that requires both the Canadian and Colombian governments to assess the accord’s effects on human rights on an annual basis. However, whether this clause will actually be effective has been the source of heated debate.

Colombia is Canada’s fourth-largest trading partner in South America, with trade between the two countries amounting to US$1,260 million in 2008, according to BusinessWeek. Liberal MP Scott Brison was quoted in Canadian newspaper The Globe & Mail as praising the FTA, saying that its ratification would “give us a head start, and Canadian interests an advantage.” Brison had proposed the human rights amendment that was added to the FTA in March.

Canada’s passage of this deal is likely to put additional pressure on the US to pass its own FTA with Colombia. The US signed an agreement with Colombia in 2006, but the FTA has been stalled in the US Congress ever since.

Recent concern over the Canada-Colombia FTA prompted a bipartisan group of 39 members from the US House of Representatives to send a letter to US President Barack Obama on 2 June, emphasising the importance of setting a date for passing a US deal with Colombia. They asserted that delaying the agreement much longer would cause the US to lose some of its share in the Colombian market, especially given Canada and Europe’s progress in setting up their own FTAs with the South American country.

The members of Congress called on Obama to support the deal’s approval, asserting that “virtually every economic study has come to the conclusion that the United States will benefit economically from the agreement.” They added that the FTA would also have an impact on US national security, and recommended that the deal be passed before Colombian President Álvaro Uribe leaves office in August.

This request came on the heels of a similar letter sent from 16 Republican members of the US Senate, which also urged Obama to outline a timeline for pushing through the Colombia trade pact, among other deals.

Former US President Bill Clinton spoke last week to W Radio in Colombia about his optimism regarding the US-Colombia FTA. However, he anticipated that the deal would likely pass only after November’s US congressional midterm elections. He added that much of the delay seems to be resulting from lawmakers’ fears over FTA-related job losses, given the unemployment caused by the recent economic crisis.

Clinton also noted that, for the first time in 20 years, Colombia has not been listed by the International Labour Organisation as a country that violates workers’ rights - another good sign for the US-Colombia FTA’s fate.

ICTSD reporting; “Canadian Lawmakers Approve Free Trade Agreement With Colombia;” BUSINESSWEEK, 14 June 2010; “Commons seals Colombia free-trade deal,” GLOBE & MAIL, 14 June 2010; “Bipartisan group of lawmakers urge Obama to back Colombia free trade pact,” THE HILL, 5 June 2010; “Republicans urge Obama outline plans for trade deals,” REUTERS, 1 June 2010; “Bill Clinton cree que el TLC de EE.UU. con Colombia sera ratificado por el Congreso de su país,” EL TIEMPO, 10 June 2010.