President Oscar Arias attended a forum on free trade yesterday with U.S. President George Bush, weeks after a Supreme Court decision threatened Costa Rica's entry into the Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

The White House convened the meeting for leaders from 11 countries in the Western Hemisphere that either have a free-trade agreement with the United States or are in the process of entering one.

In a joint statement, the leaders agreed to promote “trade liberalization and open markets” in the region and “exchange best practices on labor and environmental standards.”

Arias told his counterparts about Costa Rica's pickle: the country signed CAFTA in May 2004 and approved the pact in a national referendum last October, but it still hasn't joined the club.

Costa Rica will miss its Oct. 1 deadline for entering CAFTA because the Supreme Court has questioned a bill required to put the country in compliance with the pact. Lawmakers must now amend the bill and pass it again in a process that could take up to three months.

The Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX) is now in talks with the U.S. Trade Representative and trade offices in other CAFTA countries to negotiate an extension of the deadline.

“We applaud Costa Rica's effort to complete the steps necessary for entry into force of (CAFTA) … as soon as possible,” the forum's guests said in their joint statement.

Of the countries represented at the forum, only four – Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Peru – had not yet entered their free-trade agreements with the United States.

Presidents and representatives from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Chile, Canada and the Dominican Republic also attended the forum. Nicaragua, whose relationship with the United States has deteriorated, was the only CAFTA country not represented.