In order to supply the deficiency of the local market, the Ministry of Economy authorized the import of 75 thousand metric tons of white corn, which will be subject to a zero tariff.
The May 21 edition of the Diario de Centroamerica published Ministerial Agreement 232-2021, by means of which the Ministry of Economy authorizes the import of white corn, tariff code 1005.90.30.00.
Although the end of the year holidays is a threat to Central America for a second wave of covid-19 infections, it is expected that total closures will not be decreed since there are currently effective health control options, and less costly for the economy.
When the first cases of covid-19 were reported in the region in March 2020, most governments decided to paralyze a large part of productive activities and decree home quarantines.
The Ministry of Economy of Guatemala issued an agreement establishing maximum sales prices to consumers for certain pharmaceutical products, while the state of calamity decreed by covid-19 lasts.
Arguing that the health of the nation's inhabitants is a public good and that institutions are required to ensure its conservation and restoration, the government will regulate the prices of several medicines.
Focusing the skills of employees according to new opportunities and approving laws that allow for more flexible labor agreements are some of the proposals being discussed in Guatemala for companies to face the new labor reality.
Following the economic crisis that caused the outbreak of covid-19, the recovery and generation of jobs is one of the issues that occupies much of the attention of the government in Guatemala.
In Guatemala, the government announced that in the next two years it plans to build a plastic waste recycling plant that would produce electricity, and the investment would be financed by donations.
The Ministry of Economy (Mineco) is focused on identifying within the metropolitan area which is the most suitable area for the installation of the plant and the plan is that it will start operating within two years.
For agricultural producers, the use of precision biotechnology in Guatemala requires a specialized committee so that the authorities' decisions are based on technical and scientific evidence, and not under the influence of political or ideological interests.
Guatemala already has regulations in this area, since on October 1, 2019, the regulatory framework signed by the Ministry of Economy with its counterparts in El Salvador and Honduras came into effect.
The Ministry of Economy certified the Association of Independent Brewers of Guatemala, which brings together eight brands of artisanal beers in the country.
The brands that make up this new association are Antigua Cerveza, Ave Indiana Brewing, Cervecería El Güin, Cerveza Entremares, Cervecería Pantera, Cervecería San Roque, Sapiens Cerveza and Xamán.
At the request of Ternium, the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy conducts an import investigation to determine whether or not a safeguard can be applied, a measure opposed by the commercial sector.
In February 2018, the company Ternium submitted to the authorities a request for the Directorate of Foreign Trade Administration (DACE) to carry out an economic study of the import of rolled products into the country, which has as its main objective, to establish whether a safeguard measure is appropriate.
Guatemalan authorities announced that in the first week of October they will travel to South Korea, with the aim of restarting negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between the two economies.
Guatemala is the only Central American country still negotiating the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea, since El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica signed it in February 2018.
The first round of negotiations will take place in Guatemala from August 26 to 28, during which the lists of products of interest to both nations will be exchanged.
Authorities from the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy (Mineco) informed that the agreement they seek to sign will not be a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), nor a Partial Scope Agreement, but rather a hybrid agreement.
The lack of a competition law in Guatemala could expose the country to sanctions from the European authorities, since it is a requirement demanded in the regulations of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
Since the end of 2016, the Association Agreement (AdA) required Guatemala to have a law on the matter, since in 2019 a Central American competition authority would have to be created.
The World Trade Organization created a special group to address a complaint filed by Guatemala for alleged export subsidies granted to sugar cane producers in India.
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.
In the NAFTA review carried out by the Central American and U.S. authorities, it is ruled out that the U.S. government will apply trade sanctions in retaliation for the deepening of the migration problem.
After the Trump administration pressured Mexico with the threat of increased tariffs on Mexican imports, the region has generated expectations for the planned review of the NAFTA with Central America.
Both countries agreed to increase from 60,000 to 125,000 tons the export quota of Guatemalan sugar that enters the Asian nation free of tariffs.
In the framework of the Second Meeting of the Administrative Commission of the Free Trade Agreement between Guatemala and the Republic of Taiwan, held in Taipei, Taiwan on July 8 and 9, both parties agreed to eliminate tariffs for the entry of certain products, informed the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala.
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