The U.S. government has marked its first step towards passing pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved the extension of the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program, which is centered on promoting economic growth in developing countries by providing preferential duty-free entry.

Due to the extension of the program, the U.S. Congress will likely reach an agreement on the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade deal within the month.

Last month, the Senate majority and minority leaders agreed on a five-step plan to deal with the extension of the GSP program and the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. The plan also addressed the ratification of the three trade pacts as soon as Congress returned from August recess.