As of March 1st, the Free Trade Agreement signed between the Republic of South Korea and Central American countries will become effective.
After several years of negotiations, the trade agreement between the countries of the region and the Asian nation will finally come into force next Monday.
Ramon Martinez, Minister of Commerce and Industries of Panama, said that "...
After the Association Agreement with the United Kingdom came into effect on January 1, Guatemalan businessmen are confident that business opportunities will be generated during 2021.
Upon the signing of Decision No. 3 of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, a scheme will be established in early September to simplify the issuance of Certificates of Origin, based on current technologies.
On July 22, the Panamanian and Mexican authorities signed Decision No. 3 of the trade agreement between the two economies. The document will become effective 45 days after its signature.
Because Guatemala is the only country in the region still negotiating an FTA with the Asian country, sugar producers estimate that they have stopped selling about 400,000 metric tons.
Months ago it was reported that Guatemalan authorities would travel to South Korea in the first week of October, with the aim of restarting the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
During the eleven months that will pass between the beginning of the exit process from the European Union and the entry into force of the association agreement with Central America, trade relations with the United Kingdom will follow the same rules that have been in place until now.
In July 2019, the negotiations of the Association Agreement with the United Kingdom were completed, which contains the mechanism to address the preferential trade relations regulated between both parties, after the process of leaving the European Union, known as BREXIT, is completed.
With the entry into force of the trade agreement between the two countries, the Salvadoran export sector intends to study the South Korean market to take advantage of the opportunities that have opened up.
With the recent signing of the U.S.-Canadian-Mexican trade agreement, a precedent was set for future negotiations, as this agreement sets binding labor conditions, such as making exports subject to the payment of a minimum wage.
For example, one of the conditions of the Treaty between Mexico, United States and Canada (T-MEC), which was signed on December 10, 2019, is that vehicles exported from one state of Mexico to the other two countries "must come from plants that pay wages not less than $16 an hour.
In Panama, the Cortizo administration has announced that it does not plan to sign new trade agreements, as what the country currently needs is to "strengthen its exporters.”
Representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries informed that until the exportable offer of Panama is strengthened, they will begin to advance in the negotiation of commercial treaties with other countries.
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.
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 last week of September, the first round of negotiations for the deepening and extension of the Partial Scope Agreement between the two countries is scheduled to take place in Havana.
The second round of negotiations will take place in Guatemala City during the week of October 7-11 this year, and will analyze in depth access to markets and rules of origin, in order to advance in the exchange of negotiating positions, informed the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala (Mineco).
It is announced that technical groups from the governments of El Salvador and Guatemala began negotiations in London to conclude a new trade agreement.
Now, there is a possibility that the agreement the region seeks to sign with the European country will not be consolidated, since it is not yet clear how the process of Britain's exit from the European Union will be carried out, an issue that is generating great tension between the British Parliament and Prime Minister, Theresa May, at this very moment.
Authorities in both countries announced the launch of negotiations for a partial-scope trade agreement, excluding products or sectors likely to be affected.
From the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic:
Santo Domingo, December 3rd, 2018. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Miguel Vargas, and the Minister of Economic Development of Curacao, Iván Steven Martina, signed this Monday the negotiation framework of a Partial Scope Agreement, which establishes the basis for creating a mechanism that stimulates trade flows and cooperation between the two countries.
Varela administration signed 19 agreements with the Asiatic giant, including the meat, sea and fruit exports from Panama, and technological cooperation mechanisms.
In addition to the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations, the fourth round of negotiations took place weeks ago, and within the framework of the visit of Chinese President Xin Jinping to Panama, bilateral agreements on tourism, trade and agriculture were signed.
During the fourth round of negotiations between the two countries, rules of origin, customs procedures, market access, trade in services and others were addressed.
From the statement of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries:
The negotiating teams from Panama and the Popular Republic of China concluded today in the Panamanian capital the Fourth Round of Negotiations for a Trade Agreement with approaches in the chapters of Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures, Market Access, Trade in Services and others.
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