Producers from the Guatemalan sugar industry have not accepted the Peruvian proposal.
Although the Guatemalan government has said that agreements have been approved by Peruvian authorities, representatives from the sugar industry indicate that negotiations related to this topic are not over yet.
The president of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (ASAZGUA), Marco Augusto Garcia, said his industry has not reached an agreement yet, so the government should not terminate the negotiations until all parties involved in the treaty reach a consensus.
The Economy Ministry will study the Free Trade Agreement between Costa and Rica and China, by request from the National Export Promotion Council (Conapex).
Conapex requested the ministry to evaluate the possibility of strengthening trade ties with China through the Trade Agreement negotiated between the Asian giant and Costa Rica. These treaty allows other Central American nations to join in, nut negotiating separate terms and conditions.
Transporting a truckload from Guatemala to Costa Rica takes four days, when the journey could be completed in 30 hours.
The Business Committee for Customs Union launched a campaign to accelerate and complete the integration, attacking in particular mental and cultural barriers which persist in economic actors and in the general population.
An article in Prensalibre.com reported that the president of the Business Committee, Adam Aquino, claimed, “Not being able to facilitate trade results in losses and high costs for Central American consumers. The main causes for slow cargo movement between El Salvador and Guatemala, is the different interpretation officials make of the legal instruments approved by the customs union.
With the publication in the official newspaper the Framework Convention for the Establishment of the Customs Union is now in effect.
The agreement was approved by Congress on September 9th, 2010.
Deputy Economy Minister for Foreign Trade and Integration, Raul Trejo, told Sigloxxi.com, "We are legally fulfilling a commitment made by all countries in the region” explaining that it has been ratified by almost all nations with a pending process in Costa Rica."
Representatives of Mexico and Central America began negotiations, which will extend until Friday, February 4.
Negotiations will cover government procurement, market access, rules of origin and services, among other issues, explained Raul Trejo, Guatemalan Vice Minister of Economy.
"In addition, technicians across the Isthmus presented Mexico with a list of some products to be kept outside of the negotiation", noted Prensalibre.com.
Technical teams began the negotiation round and estimate signing the agreement next March.
The deputy economy minister of Guatemala, Raúl Trejo Esquivel, said negotiations began with the discussion of market access. Guatemala has sought registration of 200 tariff lines and Ecuador 500.
Prensalibre.com published, "In this Partial Agreement chapters on intellectual property, environmental, labor and government purchases are not included."
The private sector, except for rice and tuna, reached a preliminary agreement for the distribution of export quotas to the European Union.
Deputy Minister of Economy of El Salvador, Mario Roger Hernandez, told media that "the sugar, processed mushrooms, frozen and canned sweet corn, cassava starch, beef and plastic products industries are among those who already reached agreements.”
Mexico could allow privileges to those products in connection with the unification of the FTA.
In return, it requested access to CA of its dairy products, cars, avocado, steel and white corn.
Guatemalan Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Raul Trejo, told Sigloxxi.com, "We must be aware that in negotiations you not always getting what you ask for; sometimes you need to yield in some areas.
The region has unified its decision to exclude from the text possible economic sanctions to be applied for labor law violations.
Raúl Trejo Esquivel, Guatemala's Vice-minister for the Economy, indicated that Canada would like them included while the CA-4 (composed of Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras) proposal is to develop supporting policies to improve the application of the region's labor laws.
Guatemala is coordinating schedules in order to resume free trade negotiations between Canada and the CA-4 countries.
Raúl Trejo, vice-minister for Guatemalan trade, indicated that coordination meetings have already been held in El Salvador to agree a schedule for the twelfth round of negotiations.
It expected that the negotiations, which began in 2002 but were suspended in 2004, will be concluded this year.
After almost 10 years of negotiations, Guatemalan authorities have announced that they should be concluded by the end of the year.
In the last meeting, held back in March in Ottawa, Canada, progress was made regarding textiles.
Guatemala’s Economy Vice Minister, Raúl Trejo, told Sigloxxi.com that Canadian negotiators have offered a gradual move toward customs tax exemption over three years for textiles exported from Guatemala, provided that the rules of origin proposed in CA-4 are followed.
The country will renegotiate better market access for some products which were not given tariff benefits.
According to the Guatemalan Economy Ministry, these products are sugar, coffee, banana, tobacco and tuna.
"A series of meetings were held this week, as part of an initiative to unify the Free Trade Agreements that Mexico has with Central America", reported Sigloxxi.com.