The measure announced by the Salvadoran government applies to the import of live pigs, meat and meat products.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador:
The prohibition of the importation of pigs from Guatemala is being maintained
The Directorate General of Livestock, at the Ministry of Agriculture reports that the restriction on the import of live pigs will be maintained, as well as fresh, cured, frozen meat, semen or other genetic material of porcine origin, from Guatemala.
Businessmen are complaining about delays occurring in the process of non-intrusive inspection of goods.
The productive sector is decrying the fact that the processes for non intrusive inspections of merchandise in Customs Offices in Guatemala are making costs more expensive and extending the time it takes to make exports and imports.
"Fernando Lopez, president of the board of the IGC, said that in the past 15 months the delays have caused an increase in costs because of the long time it takes for inspections."
Procomer identified 726 Costa Rican export products as having some level of potential to be marketed in Russia.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
After statistical analysis prepared by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) it has been revealed that there are 726 goods among Costa Rican exports with some level of potential to be marketed in Russia, a transcontinental nation which forms part of the emerging nations and whose population is 143.1 million.
Guatemala is to ask the European Union for a postponement of the entry into force of the Association Agreement with the block.
According to Maria Luisa Flores, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, the Guatemalan Congress has not yet approved the industrial property law which certifies the 114 geographical indications required for the AA. "We are going to launch a supporting diplomatic offensive against the European Union, so that they can give the country a chance to enter belatedly," he added.
The 'Ventanilla Única para las Exportaciones' or VUPE and the Regímenes de Perfeccionamiento Activo or OPA, have launched a new unified website.
From a press release by the Guatemalan Association of Exports (AGEXPORT):
In order to offer exporters and the general public ease in obtaining information relating to the export sector, the Ventanilla Única para las Exportaciones -VUPE- and the Oficina de Regímenes de Perfeccionamiento Activo -OPA-have launched a new unified website which provides the following features:
Tariffs have been temporarily removed for the import of lemons and green tomatoes, while there will be new quota of 300.000 tons for foreign chicken.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Economy of Mexico (SE):
At a press conference, the Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, the Deputy Minister of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance, Miguel Messmacher and Undersecretary of Agriculture of Sagarpa, Jesus Aguilar Padilla, announced the measures implemented by the Government of the Republic to help contribute to stabilizing prices and meeting the increased demand for some commodities.
The Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union will enter into force on August 1 for countries which ratify it before July 15.
From a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (COMEX):
Today, the deputies in charge of foreign trade of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama met in San Jose, where they held a video conference with the Director General of the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, Joao Aguiar Machado, who served as Chief Negotiator for the European Central America Association Agreement (CAAA). During the meeting they discussed the progress of the registration of geographical indications in the legislative process and approval of the Agreement.
The cause is a contraction in consumption in major markets for Guatemalan exports, mainly sugar, coffee and rubber.
This is mainly due to international market stagnation and decline in prices of commodities such as sugar and coffee. "Among these markets is the U.S., the country's main trading partner. According to statistics from the Bank of Guatemala, during the first three months of the year $1.016 billion was exported to this country, showing a decrease of 2.4% compared to the $1.041 billion recorded last year, ie a loss of $24.5 million," noted an article in Elperiodico.gt.
Since the entry into force in 2006 of the DR-CAFTA, the tip in favor of the U.S. in the trade balance has multiplied by 5.
"The Central America to which President Barack Obama is coming to visit on on Friday is a region that maintains multiple communication vessels with the United States, including a growing trade relationship which in 2012 amounted to $40 billion, although very much in favor of the American power," reported Prensa.com.
The vegetarian trend has become more radical in the UK, where there is a demand for cosmetics produced free of any animal inputs.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
In the UK, hand in hand with the lifestyle trend of vegetarianism and veganism, there has been a growth in the demand for cosmetics which do not contain animal inputs, with some products satisfying this criteria already existing already in the market.
The Customs Directorate is calling on companies involved in foreign trade to take part in the AEO Programme.
The Customs Directorate is inviting producers, importers, exporters, carriers, customs agents, bonded warehouses, Consolidated / deconsolidated companies, courier companies, free zones and ports, to form part of the AEO Program of Guatemala, which strikes a balance between security and facilitation of international trade, through a strategic alliance between the Customs Administration, the Tax Authority and the different participants in the supply chain.
As the months of 2013 go by, without the Agreement with Europe coming into force, so are the percentages of export quotas lost.
So explained Sergio De la Torre, Guatemala's economy minister, adding that "this creates uncertainty, both for the buyer and the supplier, they do not know what to do and opt for other markets."
Representatives from the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) went to Congress to put pressure on them, in order to push for the speedy approval of the trade agreement with the European Union.
In late May, the two countries will officially sign a partial scope agreement.
According to Maria Luisa Flores, vice minister of Foreign Trade and Integration in Guatemala, the signing will take place on 30 or 31 May, taking advantage of the visit of foreign business people participating in the Guatemala Investment Summit.
"To pave the way, a technical committee from the Ministry of Economy will travel to the Caribbean island in order to revise and refine the legal texts of the Partial Scope Agreement (PSA)", noted an article in Americaeconomia.com
The world economic order is changing rapidly , while Guatemala's foreign relations are conducted with the same style as in the times of the Cold War.
An analysis of this issue by Reny Mariane Bake in Prensalibre.com, reviews the current status of Foreign Affairs in Guatemala, but this analysis also applies to other, but not all, countries in the region.
Honduras and Nicaragua will be the first countries to export to the European market under the preferential tariff agreed between the two regions.
The agreement will be effective only in these two countries, as the parliaments of the rest of the region have not yet ratified it.
Both nations also will benefit from use of the regional quotas agreed for products such as meat, tuna, rice, sugar, sweet corn, preserved mushrooms, cassava flour, fresh or chilled garlic, among others, which can enter without paying tariffs.