WASHINGTON, D.C. — W. Henson Moore, President and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), today praised House and Senate conferees for reaching agreement on H.R. 3009, the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation. "This bill will go a long way toward helping the forest products industry regain the international market share it has lost in recent years due to the lack of new free trade agreements," said Moore. "TPA will facilitate new trade pacts, as well as help finalize negotiations the administration is already engaged in." The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the conference report sometime on Friday, July 26th, with Senate consideration planned for the week of July 29th. "I hope the House and Senate will act as quickly as possible to pass the conference report," urged Moore. "The sooner the bill is on the President's desk , the quicker our trade negotiators will have the authority to complete the important trade agreements and level the playing field in international markets." The TPA bill will give U.S. trade negotiators the green light to press ahead on trade negotiations to remove foreign barriers to U.S. trade, granting the Administration broad authority to negotiate new trade agreements that Congress could either agree to or reject, but not amend. The bill also provides for the mechanisms among parties to trade agreements to protect against currency manipulation by trade partners. "With TPA in hand, we are looking forward to a quick conclusion to the Chilean free trade agreement, as well as a resolution to WTO trade negotiations based on the original zero-for-zero sectors, identified in the Uraguay Round, which includes wood and paper," said Moore. "Additionally, the ability to address currency manipulation by our trade partners is vitally important to restoring balance and fairness to the currency exchange markets." AF&PA is the national trade association of the forest products industry.