MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico's Senate ratified a free-trade accord
with the European Union on Monday, giving President Ernesto Zedillo the
green light to sign the pact in Lisbon later this week.
Dionisio Perez, president of the directive table in the Senate, confirmed
the
passage of the accord, which will be gradually phased in after July 1.
The
measure passed with 89 votes in favor and 11 against.
Zedillo is scheduled to sign the treaty with the 15-member EU on Thursday,
along with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, whose country
currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Negotiations toward a free
trade
pact began in 1995.
Mexico is hoping the treaty will diversify its export markets and reduce
its
dependence on the United States, the buyer of about 80 percent of the Latin
American nation's exports.
The EU, meanwhile, is hoping the pact will put European companies on the
same footing as their U.S. and Canadian competitors, which have enjoyed
free
trade with Mexico since the 1994 start of the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
In 1998, EU exports to Mexico totaled about $9.3 million, while imports
from
Mexico amounted to about $3.9 million.
Copyright 2000 Reuters.