
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 3, 1993                   TAG: 9312040282
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OTTAWA                                LENGTH: Short

CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER AGREES TO SIGN NAFTA

Canada's prime minister on Thursday dropped his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement, agreeing to a Jan. 1 signing that will eliminate the final obstacle to the pact's implementation.

The announcement by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, hailed by a delighted President Clinton, came after the Canadian leader failed to win concessions he promised to get in his election campaign.

The deal to eliminate trade barriers among the United States, Canada and Mexico joins 360 million consumers in the world's largest free trade zone.

Chretien, who took office last month, had run on a platform demanding revision of certain aspects of the trade agreement, signed by his Conservative predecessor, Brian Mulroney. He had told Clinton that his signature on the agreement was anything but a sure thing.

NAFTA subsequently scored a narrow victory in the U.S. House of Representatives, then passed in the Senate on Nov. 20. The Mexican legislature also passed it.

Having failed to persuade the United States to renegotiate the agreement, Chretien settled for a unilateral declaration that Canada won't give up the right to energy security in times of shortages.

He said that while the deal is still ``not perfect,'' his Liberal government has obtained enough assurances and commitments from the United States and Mexico to sign the free trade legislation.

by CNB