In the agreement between the region and South Korea the rule of origin for Salvadoran Textiles was recognized, which will prevent the importation of fabrics to later be used in the manufacture of garments in El Salvador.
The Salvadoran government managed to include in the agreement the recognition by South Korea of a rule of origin for textiles, in order to protect the entire chain in a country where virtually all of the raw materials for the manufacture of garments are produced, with the exception of cotton.
Honduran textile companies are not prepared for the total elimination of industrial exclusions demanded by Peru in the negotiation of the trade agreement.
The textile sector represents 20% of the items to be negotiated in order to close the FTA deal with Peru. This negotiation focuses on issues relating to rules of origin of threads and a request by Peru to eliminate industrial exclusions.
The fourth round has been completed with agreements made on the chapters on Rules of Origin, Investment and Financial Services.
The delegations from both countries agreed to hold a fifth round of negotiations from 18th to 21st March in Panama City.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Economy of Mexico:
The Governments of the United Mexican States and the Republic of Panama have concluded a fourth round of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This round of negotiations was held in Mexico City from 4th to 7th February 2014 and was led by Deputy Minister of International Trade Negotiations of Panama, Diana Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Foreign Trade of Mexico, Francisco de Rosenzweig.
Regulations have been approved governing schemes involving quality seals such as those designating origin, protected geographical indications, guaranteed traditional specialties and reserved terms.
A statement from the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) reads:
The Council of the European Union has adopted regulations regarding the quality of agricultural products and foodstuffs
The success of the food industry is based on innovation enabled by access to a wide variety of ingredients and input substances from outside the Central American region.
Rules of origin are included in trade agreements with protectionist goals that force food industry companies to work only with local raw materials. The idea is that this makes products seem more original but it seriously restricts the industry's ability to protected markets.
In the next negotiation round, to take place in Costa Rica, negotiators expect to complete the Free Trade Agreement.
Fernando Ocampo, chief negotiator for Costa Rica, informed they have consulted with the private sector, and the main concern of the businessmen, and key point in the negotiation, is the definition of rules of origin, as Singapore imports lots of food and other products in order to reprocess them.
Costa Rican agricultural and industrial businessmen are requesting modification in the rules of origin chapter of the Singapore FTA.
After the second negotiation round for the Costa Rica - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, a consensus was achieved on rules of origin. This established a general rule under which two things would be considered: firstly, if there is a tariff category change; and secondly, a 35% regional content value.
Progress was made in access to markets and rules of origin, topics of great importance to define the specific goods each side will offer.
The II Negotiation Round for the Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and Singapore concluded yesterday, after six days of video conferences. The delegations from both countries made important advances towards a normative text, as their work was based on proposals and reactions exchanged by electronic means in the weeks prior to this round.
For Costa Rican sector leaders, having access to raw materials from all over the world is essential.
Costa Rica's chief negotiator for the Singapore FTA said that the most important topic to deal with is Rules of Origin. In response to this, the president of the Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry, Tomás Pozuela, said that "they are a sector in favor of opening markets, but they oppose the restriction of not being able to access international markets in search for raw materials protected by tariff policies".
In addition to plastics, the European Union made concessions in chocolate, palm oil, fertilizers and chemicals.
According to the flexibility incorporated into the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, enterprises in the region may include materials from outside into products that are then exported to Europe under the tariff regime established in the Agreement.
Eighty-eighth percent has already been negotiated and the remaining 12% has the most difficult topics. The agreement is expected to be concluded in July.
An article in elfinancierocr.com examined the state of negotiations, what is done and what is yet to be done in each area left to be negotiated in the Association Agreement between Central America and Europe:
The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica insists that the coffee processed within the free trade region should enter the European Union free of tariffs, provided that the beans were harvested in Central America.
Producers are worried that the EU agreement might allow coffee processed in Europe and harvested anywhere in the world to enter the region tariff-free.