Costa Rica - El Salvador Arbitration Over Tires and Juices

A dispute over the failure to implement tariff benefits on the part of El Salvador on tires and juices exported by Costa Rica has not been resolved using other methods.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade, Anabel Gonzalez confirmed that on January 20th El Salvador will be taken to court for not applying the tariff benefits negotiated in the FTA between the U.S., Central America and the Dominican Republic on tires and juices.

According to Gonzalez, the only thing they are waiting for is for the end of the time period established in the trade agreement for requesting the establishment of the panel. The dispute is centered on the fact that the Central American nation "...has not implemented the tariff reduction process on those products exported by the free zone regime," reported Nacion.com.

"There is a need for the countries to clarify the rules of the game and for everything to function in an expeditious manner ," said Mario Montero, executive director of the Chamber of Food Industry.

"This could affect not only tires, but other companies who see the impossibility of using this mechanism because of El Salvador's ban," said executive vice president of the Chamber of Industries, Martha Castillo.

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From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica:

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The Ministry of Foreign Trade has requested the consultations mechanism against El Salvador, under the dispute settlement process of the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States of America (CAFTA), after a refusal, on the part of Salvadoran authorities to implement the tariff reduction program outlined in the aforementioned treaty on the import of products originating in Costa Rica.

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