The possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement with the trade bloc of South American countries is back on the discussion.
The issue will be discussed in detail at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Economy of the region (Comieco), to be held in El Salvador on December 5 and 6.
Acisclo Valladares Urruela, Minister of Economy of Guatemala, confirmed to Prensalibre.com that "...
Guatemalan authorities, the only country in the region that is negotiating the FTA with Korea unilaterally, announced that they will speed up efforts to sign the agreement before the end of the year.
The announcement was made by President Jimmy Morales in the company of the Minister of Economy, Acisclo Valladares Urruela, before the members of the board of directors of the National Coffee Association (Anacafé), which is one of the sectors that is demanding the adhesion of the country to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Central America and South Korea.
It was announced that the National Assembly of South Korea ratified the Free Trade Agreement signed with Central America.
The announcement was made by Seok-hyun Lee, deputy of the Korean assembly, who reported on the evening of August 2: "... We, the Korean National Assembly last night ratified the FTA with the nations of Central America. I hope you will benefit each other."
Both countries agreed to include threads, fabrics and clothing in the batch of items that are already subject to tax relief, as part of the Free Trade Agreement in force.
The Ministry of Economy of Guatemala informed that the trade between both countries will experience a significant increase because of the recent signature of several agreements that expand the productive value chains.
The Guatemalan Exports Association is organizing a course to show in detail how to meet the requirements for exporting under the terms of the FTA.
In order to find out in detail the procedures for successfully gaining a certificate of origin from major FTAs and avoid problems in customs operations, the School of Foreign Trade at AGEXPORT, will hold on March 31, 2014 a course entitled: "Certificates of Origin under the main commercial treaties signed by Guatemala Export / Import".
The Constitutional Court has temporarily suspended Article 19 of Governmental Decree 441-2013, which contains Regulations for the Administration of Tariff Quotas for Rice.
This regulation was established in the FTA between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States.
According to Martín Guzmán, general secretary of the CC, "the unconstitutionality [claim] was filed by the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala (CIG), last week and the highest court in the city received it yesterday. The agreement in question was published in Diario Oficial on 21 November, and from this the rice quotas are regulated," reported Prensalibre.com.
The current $550 million from the annual sales of Guatemalan products and services to Mexico could double with the entry into operation of the unified FTA between that country and the Central Americans.
Guatemalans are hoping that exports to the Aztec nation will double with the entry into force of the agreement which unifies the Mexican FTA's that were held separately with Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the CA-3.
In late 2012, one year after the signing of the new trade agreement, trade between Mexico and the region totaled $9.3 billion.
This information was released by the Mexican ambassador in San Salvador, Raul Lopez Lira. "On September 1 the Central American countries will celebrate the first anniversary of the unified treaty between Mexico and the region with a significant increase in trade ...", reported Laprensa.com.ni article.
An agreement between parliamentarians has pushed forward the ratification process, which was stuck due to the resistance of the sugar industry.
"The treaty affected the sugar business, which is the reasons why the agreement could not be approved," said one of the congressmen who requested anonymity.
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that "With 113 votes in favor, the Free Trade Agreement with Peru was approved, having been postponed since the last special session, due to the fact that there was an attempt to approve it as a matter of national emergency with less votes than required by law. "
Starting from July 1 the trade agreement with Mexico, a country with which trade reaches $10 billion per year, came into effect.
The agreement "strengthens the recognition of an extended economic zone where Central America can put more products under a single origin and continue complementing each other in the production of goods and services for export to Mexico," said Anabel Gonzalez, Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister.
The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said that approving the trade agreement between the two countries will increase bilateral trade volume.
"We hope that very soon the Congress of Guatemala will ratify it, as this will trigger trade relations to continue to grow more and more," said Peña Nieto, who during his speech at the Guatemala Investment Summit, said that in the last 12 years bilateral trade has quadrupled.
The negotiation of an agreement between the U.S. and the Trans-Pacific Partnership would enable the country to purchase cheaper textiles from Vietnam, which would disadvantage Central American companies.
In an interview with Eddy Coronado for Prensalibre.com Sergio de la Torre, Guatemala's economy minister, explained that this negotiation could undermine the conditions that the member countries of CAFTA have negotiated, jeopardizing participation of Guatemalan products in those markets.
Colombian SMEs see an opportunity to position themselves in Central America, alongside the corporations from that country that have already landed in the region.
Examples are Sirius and Cosméticos Bachué, two companies out of the nearly 200 SMEs interested in finding a place for their products in Central America and the Caribbean.
"Alvaro Gomez, director of the trade office Proexport in Costa Rica, said the country needs to double its power generation levels over the next eight years. This opens up great opportunities for electrical companies, like Sirius, in a country which in 2012 exported goods and services worth $274.4 million," noted an article in Elcolombiano.com.
The U.S. is withdrawing from suing the Guatemalan State for breach of labor rules before an international tribunal provided by the DR-CAFTA.
"In order to prevent the creation of an international panel that could lead to Guatemala paying a penalty of up to $15 million for violating labor laws, the Government has agreed with the United States to abide by a commitment to a plan to implement policies respecting these rules ", reported Prensalibre.com.
Costa Rican exporters view positively the inclusion of new products to the FTA with Mexico, with the possibility of establishing regional production chains.
Some of the products that will be incorporated into the trade agreement are sugar, iron and steel sheets, gelatin powder, cigarettes, chicken sausages, jellies and fruit pastes. In addition, also agreed was trade in raw materials such as yogurt and powdered sour cream and hydrolyzed vegetable protein.