The Costa Rican National Assembly approved the Association Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Central America, which protects commercial relations between both economies within the framework of the Brexit process.
Approval of the "Agreement Establishing an Association between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Central America" was approved in the second debate, the Legislative Assembly reported last October 28.
The Panamanian National Assembly ratified the Association Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Central America, which aims to safeguard trade relations for the Brexit process.
Project 154, which was approved on October 28, essentially preserves the rights acquired by both parties and does not change the set of rights and obligations acquired by the Republic of Panama.
Arguing that local investments could be at risk, the Maritime Chamber requested the exclusion of the maritime sector from the trade agreement that Panama negotiates with the Asiatic giant.
In a note addressed to the Chief Negotiator of Panama, the trade guild of the sector requested not to include the maritime sector, and especially the auxiliary maritime industry, in the negotiations of the FTA between Panama and China.
In the VI round agreements were reached on the chapters on Government Procurement, Employment and Dispute Resolution, and the in next round they will define the final document for technical and legal review.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Guatemala:
Guatemala, October 5, 2016.The teams negotiating the FTA between Central America and South Korea held a sixth round of negotiations from September 26 to 30 in Managua, Nicaragua with the conclusion of three more chapters.
The Government and the private sector have laid the foundation for a strategy to follow to apply for formal admission to the agreement and to take advantage of, among other things, "country of origin".
The benefit of"country of origin"that can be taken advantage of by the member countries of the Transpacific Agreement allows the use of raw materials originating in another country to be used as if they were their own. This "... will be beneficial not only for the free zones themselves but also for SMEs."We are talking about the expansion of markets, because Nicaragua is coming to countries with which it does not have this free trade scheme" said the president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise, Jose Adan Aguerri.
Fifteen years after the first approach was made, the countries have not reached an agreement on the conditions of entry of products such as textiles, meat and sugar.
Since 2001, Guatemala and Canada have been trying to close negotiations to create a free trade area between the two markets. Besides pending negotiations related to phytosanitary issues, labor and environment, the definition of the terms of trade of products such as sugar, textiles, beef and pork has still not been made concrete, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
The government has filed a request for entry as an observer to CARICOM and has proposed to the Caribbean block the start of negotiations for a free trade agreement.
The negotiation of a trade agreement with the bloc would increase the exchange of agricultural and manufactured goods, and improve the position of Panama as a logistics hub and tourist destination among the Caribbean countries.
The free trade agreement with Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland will grant free access to these countries for 77% of primary agricultural products and those processed in Guatemala.
The entry into force of the FTA now depends on the approval of Congress and subsequent ratification by the Executive.
Dca.gob.gt specifies that "... the EFTA grants free access to 77% of primary and processed agricultural products from Guatemala, 10% of goods will have tariff preferences and 13% are excluded ... Guatemala meanwhile granted free access to 43.8 percent of primary and processed agricultural products, an additional 29 percent were liberalized in periods of 5 to 10 years, 0.8 percent will enjoy tariff preferences and 0.2 percent on a tariff quota to Switzerland, excluding 26.1 percent of articles.... ".
The private sector and the governments of both countries have started talks to put into place the partial agreement which came into force in November 2014.
A Cuban delegation composed of 9 representatives from the government and entrepreneurs from the private sector will be visiting Managua with the aim of coordinating with the Nicaraguan government implementation of the agreement, which establishes the possibility of achieving up to 100% of tariff exemptions on some products.
The main Panamanian products that will benefit from the agreement are dairy, beef and pork, smoked fish fillet with and some vegetables with seasonal preferential access.
From a statement issued by the National Assembly of Panama:
Ratification has been given by the National Assembly, of the trade agreement between Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, after its third reading, in order to expand and consolidate access of Panamanian agricultural and industrial products to the Caribbean.
The Costa Rican government will try a second time to renegotiate the terms of the free trade agreement with Canada to include services in the list of sectors with preferences.
The FTA was signed 12 years ago, therefore the government of Costa Rica considers it necessary to revise and update it with the idea of emulating the models of recent agreements made with Europe and other countries.
While the textile sector accounts for over 90% of total exports to the USA under the FTA, lack of training and compliance with requirements is preventing other sectors from taking better advantage of the trade agreement.
Lack of training, compliance requirements and inability to make the necessary investment to produce on a large-scale are some of the challenges faced by the sectors who are failing to take advantage of the trade agreement with the United States faces.
Analysis of the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the region.
The competition which sectors such as textiles could face is one of the elements raising questions among employers in the region, compared to the real benefits that could be accrued if Central America participates in the Strategic Economic Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The presence of direct competitors, such as countries like Vietnam, in the textile sector, and the possibility of losing dominance in the American market due to trade rules that TPP countries must meet, is unsettling the productive sectors in the region and forcing a reckoning of the pros and cons of a possible entry to the block to be undertaken.
At the first meeting of the Council of the European Partnership Agreement - Central America raised the eventual accession of Croatia and topics related to denomination of origin.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in El Salvador:
On June 27, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, held the first meeting of the Association Council, the highest institutional body of the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, to oversee the fulfilment of the objectives of the Agreement and its application. This meeting was held between Ministers and senior officials, under the trade part of the Agreement.
Making it clear that their international trade policies will be more protectionist than those of previous governments, the Solis administration has poured cold water on the accession to the group formed by Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Editorial
This theme marks the differences within the government of President Luis Guillermo Solis. While the Minister of Foreign Trade (COMEX) Alexander Mora would be inclined to maintain the openness to the world that has characterized Costa Rica in recent years, Luis Felipe Arauz, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), publicly expressed opposition to entering the block of nations under the current conditions.