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President Bush Discusses Trade With Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez

10-25-06 04:50 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP)--President George W. Bush and the leader of the Dominican Republic agreed on Wednesday to jump-start a delayed free trade agreement to remove barriers to commerce between the two nations.

In an Oval Office meeting, Bush told Leonel Fernandez, president of the Caribbean nation, that the U.S. will implement the Central American Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible.

"To that end, I had my trade minister, Ambassador Susan Schwab here, to make sure that we both heard the message of the president - that this was a very important piece of legislation," Bush said.

The Dominican Republic is one of six Latin American signatories to CAFTA, which is part of the administration's push to strike free trade deals with nations around the world as a way to boost U.S. exports. The free trade agreement has taken effect in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, but not in Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic.

The pact was supposed to take effect in the Dominican Republic on Jan. 1, but the country has not passed legislation needed to implement parts of the deal. Some of the delays stem from conflicts between U.S. and Dominican intellectual property law, including issues related to pharmaceutical manufacturing.

"We are now in the final phase," Fernandez said. "This is a bill now before our own congress in the Dominican Republic. We are dealing with some minor legal amendments, and our two teams have been working very hard to obtain a speedy implementation."

After the meeting, Fernandez talked with reporters about the open Latin American seat on the U.N. Security Council.

There is a deadlock between Guatemala and Venezuela, which are bidding for the spot, and the Dominican Republic is on a list of compromise candidates. Guatemala has led Venezuela in nearly three dozen rounds of voting, but it can't muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the 192-nation General Assembly to win the seat. Venezuela has refused to withdraw, saying that would mean ceding victory to the U.S., which has campaigned against it.

"After 35 consecutive rounds with no result, obviously it's causing a degree of concern," Fernandez told reporters outside the West Wing. "Up to this end, the Dominican Republic was not formally asked to be a candidate. We will be watching how the events evolve in the future."