On May 14 , 2012 , at 21:00 , flight MD 11 of Centurion Air Cargo took off from El Dorado Airport carrying 80 tons of flowers . It land at the Miami Airport in the other time of day of the morning of May 15th . This escape transported 4,200 boxes of flowers , being the first lading of a Colombian ware to get in in the United States within the model of the Free Trade Agreement ( FTA ) .
Flowers of Colombia exemplify the onset of the FTA between Colombia and the United States . In 2003 , US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick harbinger the initial negotiations of an FTA with Colombia , Ecuador , and Perú . The agreement with Colombia was signal in November 2006 . It was ratify by Colombian Congress in 2007 , passed the Constitutional Court mental testing , and was approved by the US Congress in 2011 , being sanctioned by President Obama . It was then tell that the accord would be in effect as of May 15 , 2012 .
“ The FTA negotiation with Colombia´s main trade wind collaborator was vivid and complex . The Government discussed the term previously with the beneficiaries and with potentially affected sectors . Multiple regional meetings and seminars of all types were hold , and the negotiating team was able to collect clear foundations and objectives for the negotiating mesa during countless meetings and several years ” , expressed Augusto Solano , chief executive officer of Asocolflores . The private sphere was always alongside the Government in “ the room next - threshold ” during countless visits to Washington for consultation and decision - fashioning and during the align talks scheme with the private sector .
Tariff preferencesPrior to the FTA , the Colombian flower revel the duty preferences yield unilaterally by the United States as a part of the ATPA and ATPDEA . ab initio , this trade preference system of rules granted duty - gratis admission for five class , but then it had to be regenerate every class in December . This cause great uncertainty since the main flower celebration in the United States is celebrate on February 14th , which is Saint Valentine ’s mean solar day , and the fiscal implication of having access or not to the tariff preference were extremely authoritative in terms of monetary value dialogue .
Therefore , although the FTA did not bestow along financial welfare for the flush - grow sector , it provided constancy and transparency to get at the market , ease negotiation with the client and prepare room for safe investiture . On the other hired hand , it include difference of opinion - solving and phytosanitary mechanism that were equally important .
Throughout and even before the negotiation process , Asocolflores was perpetually present with lobbying house and frequent sojourn to Congress members and US Government officials . ab initio , through the firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips and then through Greenberg & Traurig , who ultimately engaged Regina Vargo , one of the FTA negotiators on behalf of the United States . This intervention was direct and sovereign from the Colombian Government´s action .
flowered diplomacySeveral Ambassadors of Colombia are in full competent witnesses of the effort that were undertaken . With Luis Alberto Moreno , Asocolflores pop the so - name “ flowered diplomacy , ” which is still in force today .
The United States is , by far , the main securities industry for Colombian bloom , with a involvement of approximately 80 % . At the same time , Colombia is the main bloom provider for the United States , with 70 % of all imports .
Colombia has made it potential for caliber flower to become an approachable luxury for consumer . During the pandemic , exports became stronger , growing 22 % in 2021 when they became “ intellectual nourishment for the soul ” of the US mass during drawn-out lock chamber - down periods .
In 2021 , US$ 1,340 million were export to the United States , and during the FTA , between May 15 , 2012 , and May 15 , 2022 , more than US$ 11,000 million . But , perchance more important yet is the generation and stableness of some 200,000 unmediated and collateral formal jobs in Colombia and more than 125,000 in the US distribution chain , which has bring forth welfare and stableness for the workers and their family .
It was no coincidence that the Flowers of Colombia were the first local ware to infix the United States under the FTA ; it was due to the expertness of the sector in fields like sustainable production , optimization of statistical distribution times , and compliance of international sustainability standards as well as follow - up of the logistics string . This model could and should be replicated with other products .
For more data : Asocolfloreswww.asocolflores.org
