USTR:Free Trade Deal With Peru Seen Taking Effect After Jan 1

LIMA -- The free trade agreement between Peru and the United States will likely go into effect after the target date of Jan. 1, 2009, as the Andean country implements required environmental legislation, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Wednesday.

In a press conference with foreign journalists ahead of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC summit, which Lima is hosting, Schwab said that the agreement would most likely be implemented after Jan. 1, adding that she hoped it would go into effect before Jan. 20, when President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

"We have been working with our Peruvian counterparts to conclude the implementing laws and regulations," Schwab said. "Both sides are frustrated that we haven't had implementation yet.

"It seems to be taking a little longer than was expected," she said.

Peru and the U.S. signed the agreement in 2006, and it breezed through the Peruvian Congress, but was stalled in the U.S. Congress over concerns from Democratic lawmakers over labor and environmental laws.

It finally passed late in 2007.

-By Leslie Josephs; Dow Jones Newswires; 511-211-2689; peru@dowjones.com