Colombia to reject free trade pact with US
Colombia's negotiators will reject the free trade pact offered by the United States on account of the sanitary measures the US is demanding for farm products, the country's official news agency reported on Monday.

"As the US offer stands, it is not possible for us to sign," the report quoted Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias as speaking in Washington where the talks are being held. "We made every effort that we could... but today, with things the way they are, we cannot close a deal."

Jose Felix Lafaurie, head of Colombia's National Farmers Federation said that the US had yet to realize that sanitary requirements for agricultural products were sensitive topics for Colombia, Peru and Ecuador -- the three countries whose representatives are in Washington to negotiate a trade pact with the United States.

Lafaurie added that the government was wise to reject the free trade pact with the terms on offer.

The report also quoted Trade minister Jorge Humberto Botero as saying in Washington that "my understanding is... Ecuador and Peru are equally dissatisfied; the US has to consider the possibility that it will not be able to close a deal with the three Andean nations."

The current four-party talks, the third round of the free trade talks among these counties which started 18 months ago, are due to end Wednesday.