... As Officials Say Guatemala Drug Change Imperils Pact.

This article informs that U.S. trade officials warned Central American officials this week that a move by Guatemala to strip protections for test data used in the approval of drugs has put the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in jeopardy. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick met with ambassadors from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador to discuss the Guatemalan legislation, which was enacted late last year and has drawn protest from U.S. pharmaceutical firms, trade sources said. Unlike the Dominican Republic, which Zoellick last year threatened to de-link from the CAFTA because of a separate dispute over corn syrup, Guatemala's prospects rise or fall with those of the four other Central American countries with which the U.S. initially negotiated the pact.