The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force on May 15, 2012. It is a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Colombia that eventually will eliminate tariffs and other barriers in bilateral trade in goods and services. During the 112 th Congress, President Obama submitted the draft legislation on October 3, 2011 that was then introduced by request in both houses of Congress ( H.R. 3078 / S. 1641 ) to implement the U.S.-Colombia FTA. On October 12, 2011, the House passed H.R. 3078 (262-167) and sent it to the Senate. The Senate passed the legislation (66-33) on the same day. The President signed the legislation into law on October 21, 2011 ( P.L. 112-42 ). The FTA entered into force after several months of work by both governments to review each other's laws and regulations related to implementation of the agreement, in addition to Colombia's efforts to fulfill its set of commitments under the Action Plan Related to Labor Rights. The U.S.-Colombia FTA negotiations grew out of a regional effort in 2004 to produce a U.S.-Andean free trade agreement between the United States and the Andean countries of Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. After negotiators failed to reach an agreement, Colombia continued negotiations with the United States for a bilateral FTA. On February 27, 2006, the United States and Colombia concluded the U.S.-Colombia FTA, and finalized the text of the agreement on July 8, 2006. On August 24, 2006, President Bush notified Congress of his intention to sign the U.S.-Colombia FTA. The two countries signed the agreement on November 22, 2006. The Colombian Congress approved the agreement in June 2007 and again in October 2007, after the agreement was modified to include new labor and environmental provisions. Since the 1990s, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have been a focus of U.S. trade policy as demonstrated by the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement, the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), and the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. After 2004, U.S. trade policy in the Western Hemisphere focused on completing trade negotiations with Colombia, Peru, and Panama and on gaining passage of these free trade agreements by the U.S. Congress. The U.S.-Peru FTA was approved by Congress and signed into law in December 2007 ( P.L. 110-138 ). The U.S.-Panama FTA was approved by Congress shortly after the U.S.-Colombia FTA on October 12, 2011, and signed into law on October 21, 2011 ( P.L. 112-43 ). It went into effect on October 31, 2012. The major expectation among proponents of the free trade agreement with Colombia, as with other trade agreements, is that it provides economic benefits for both the United States and Colombia as trade expands between the two countries. Another expectation among proponents is that it helps improve investor confidence and increase foreign direct investment in Colombia, which may bring more economic stability. For Colombia, a free trade agreement with the United States has been part of the country's overall development strategy and efforts to promote economic growth and stability. Before the U.S.-Colombia FTA entered into force, the U.S. average tariff on Colombian goods was 3%, while Colombia's average tariff on U.S. goods was 12.5%. Prior to the agreement, about 90% of U.S. imports from Colombia came into the country duty-free under trade preference programs or through normal trade relations. Most of Colombia's duties on U.S. exports were consolidated into three tariff levels: 0% to 5% on capital goods, industrial goods, and raw materials not produced in Colombia; 10% on manufactured goods, with some exceptions; and 15% to 20% on consumer and "sensitive" goods. Exceptions included automobiles, which were subject to a 35% duty; beef and rice, which were subject to an 80% duty; and milk and cream, which were subject to a 98% duty through August 11, 2010. Table 1 provides a summary of Colombian tariffs on goods coming from the United States before the free trade agreement entered into force. Other agricultural products fell under the Andean Price Band System (APBS), a system in which Colombia applied a variable levy on imports by increasing tariffs when world prices fall, and lowering tariffs when world prices rise. The APBS included 14 U.S. product groups and covered more than 150 tariff lines. The system resulted in high duties, sometimes exceeding 100%, on certain U.S. exports to Colombia, including corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, pork, poultry parts, cheeses, and powdered milk. However, upon entry into force of the U.S.-Colombia FTA, Colombia stopped imposing variable tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports. The comprehensive free trade agreement was reached after numerous rounds of negotiations over a period of nearly two years. Some issues that took longer to resolve were related to agriculture. Colombia had been seeking lenient agriculture provisions in the agreement, arguing that the effects of liberalization on rural regions could have adverse effects on smaller farmers and drive them to coca production. The United States agreed to give more sensitive sectors longer phase-out periods to allow Colombia more time to adjust to trade liberalization. Sectors receiving the longest phase-out periods include poultry and rice. This section summarizes several key provisions in the original agreement text as provided by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), unless otherwise noted. Upon entry into force, the agreement eliminated 80% of duties on U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia. An additional 7% of U.S. exports received duty-free treatment after the five-year mark (2017), and most remaining tariffs are to be eliminated within 10 years after entry into force. Upon entry into force, the U.S.-Colombia FTA eliminated most tariffs immediately and is to phase out the remaining tariffs over periods of up to 19 years. Tariff elimination for major sectors includes the following: More than 99% of U.S. and almost 76% of Colombian industrial and textile tariff lines became free of duty upon the agreement's entry into force. Virtually all industrial and textile tariff lines are to be duty free after 10 years (2022). All tariffs in textiles and apparel that meet the agreement's rules-of-origin provisions were scheduled to be eliminated immediately (see section on " Textiles and Apparel " below). Tariffs on agricultural products are to be phased out over a period of time, ranging from 3 to 19 years (see section on " Agricultural Provisions " below). Colombia is to eliminate quotas and over-quota tariffs in 12 years for corn and other feed grains, 15 years for dairy products, 18 years for chicken leg quarters, and 19 years for rice after the agreement's entry into force. Prior to the FTA entering into force, Colombia applied some tariff protection on all agricultural products. The trade agreement provided immediate duty-free access on 77% of all agricultural tariff lines. Colombia will eliminate most other tariffs on agricultural products within 15 years, by 2027. U.S. farm exports to Colombia that received immediate duty-free treatment include high-quality beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and many processed food products including frozen french fries and cookies. U.S. farm products that have received improved market access include pork, beef, corn, poultry, rice, fruits and vegetables, processed products, and dairy products. The agreement also provides duty-free tariff rate quotas on standard beef, chicken leg quarters, dairy products, corn, sorghum, animal feeds, rice, and soybean oil. The FTA removed Colombia's price band system on U.S. products upon the agreement's entry into force. However, if the rates under the price band system result in a lower rate than that given under the FTA, the United States will be allowed to sell the product to Colombia at the lower rates. Under the agreement, Colombia agreed to join the World Trade Organization's Information Technology Agreement (ITA), and remove its tariff and non-tariff barriers to information technology products. Colombia agreed to allow trade in remanufactured goods, which increases export and investment opportunities for U.S. businesses involved in remanufactured products such as machinery, computers, cellular telephones, and other services. In textiles and apparel, products that meet the agreement's rules of origin requirements received duty-free and quota-free treatment immediately upon entry into force. The United States and Colombia have cooperation commitments under the agreement that allow for verification of claims of origin or preferential treatment, and denial of preferential treatment or entry if the claims cannot be verified. The rules of origin requirements are generally based on the yarn-forward standard to encourage production and economic integration. A "de minimis" provision allows limited amounts of specified third-country content to go into U.S. and Colombian apparel to provide producers in both countries flexibility. A special textile safeguard provides for temporary tariff relief if imports prove to be damaging to domestic producers. In government procurement contracts, the two countries agreed to grant non-discriminatory rights to bid on government contracts. These provisions cover the purchases of Colombia's ministries and departments, as well as its legislature and courts. U.S. companies are assured access to the purchases of a number of Colombia's government enterprises, including its oil company.