Colombia, Office of USTR Discuss Customs Digitization, Labor and More

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere Daniel Watson and Andrés Cárdenas Muñoz, Colombia's vice minister of foreign trade, directed their customs and trade facilitation teams to have another discussion on lessons learned and future plans "especially with regard to the digitalization of customs procedures," according to a USTR readout of the Oct. 22 meeting.

The men planned an Environmental Affairs Council meeting next year to review implementation of the environment chapter in the two countries' free trade agreement. "The Parties also had a robust discussion of labor matters," the summary said, and they talked about how they could address issues identified in a report by the Labor Department's International Labor Affairs Bureau, which outlined shortcomings of Colombia's labor law enforcement, such as a lack of prosecution against those who threaten violence or attack labor unionists, and a lack of enforcement against companies that prevent their workers from unionizing.

They also talked about textiles and apparel, intellectual property, de minimis, agriculture, and steel and aluminum.