WASHINGTON (CMC):

The United States' House of Representatives has passed a bill that would make Haiti eligible for new trade benefits in addition to those it currently enjoyed under the Caribbean Basin Initiative.

The Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act of 2006 passed the House by a vote of 212-184.

It was part of an omnibus trade package that would permit apparel imports from Haiti to enter the United States duty free if at least 50 per cent of the value of inputs and/or costs of processing are from any combination of the US Free Trade Agreement and regional preference programme partner countries. electoral process.

OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, said yesterday that GECOM "should become a technically, and financially well-equipped, independent, non-partisan electoral institution that can provide electoral service that will be respected, not disputed and able to provide professional guidance in situations of uncertainty."