Limit To Approve TLC
Laws Is June 1 According
to the Opinion Of The
Attorney General
Costa Rica has until
June 1 to approve the
parallel laws that are
required before the
Tratado de Libre
Comercio (TLC) - free
trade agreement with the
United States - can go
into force, according to
the Procuraduría General
de la República (PGR) -
attorney general's
office.
The notice came
yesterday after the
Partido Acción Ciudadana
(PAC) requested a legal
opinion as the March 1,
the date that the TLC is
supposed to go into
effect, is around the
corner and the less than
half of the required
parallel laws have been
passed by the country's
legislature.
According to the PGR,
the TLC must be ratified
by March 1, 2008. the
last day that the Costa
Rica has to deposit with
the the Organization of
American States (OAS)
the ratified TLC
document and notify the
United States,
Nicaragua, Honduras,
Guatemala, El Salvador
and the Dominican
Republic - partners in
the trade agreement.
The PGR says that the
agreement then goes into
effect 90 days after
notification to the OAS,
according to a document
signed by the Magda Inés
Rojas Chaves.
Based on the Chavez
document, if Costa Rica
hands over the signed
TLC document to the OAS
on March 1, it will have
until June 1 to approve
all the 12 parallel laws
required to make the TLC
agreement valid.
Although the PGR opinion
is not bindin on the
government, it has
satisfied the Poder
Ejecutivo (Executive
Power) and the
legislative members of
the PAC and Movimiento
Libertario, who have
differing opinions on
the trade deal.
The PAC is the main
opposition to the TLC.
Of the 12 parallel laws,
two have been approved
into law, four have been
passed in first debate
(passing of second
debate is required for
approval into law), and
the rest, five of which
are in process and one
is yet to be presented.
The ministro de Comercio
Exterior (Foreign
Commerce minister),
Marco Vinicio Ruiz, said
yesterday that despite
the PGR opinion, Costa
Rica will still seek a
extension from its trade
partners. |
|
