Flowers from Colombia and Ecuador extended duty-free status

President Obama signed the Omnibus Trade Act (H.R. 6517) into law on Dec. 29, 2010. The law extended the provisions of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Society of American Florists reports the law will allow flowers entering the U.S. from Colombia and Ecuador to arrive duty-free through Feb. 12, 2011.
Previously when ATPDEA had been up for renewal, Congress had extended the duty-free status for a minimum of a year and sometimes for 18 or 24 months. SAF said now that the Republicans control the House of Representatives and have a stronger influence in the Senate, Congress will more closely scrutinize U.S. trade policies, including ATPDEA.
“The current prognosis for extending ATPDEA longer than six weeks is muddy at best,” said SAF COO Drew Gruenburg. “Both parties want concessions from the other before moving a new trade bill forward, which only adds to the uncertainty surrounding the future of ATPDEA.”