A new law approved by the National Assembly establishes the obligatory use of labels indicating whether or not a product is of local origin.
From a statement issued by from the National Assembly:
As a measure of protection for national products and so that consumers can recognize whether the product they are buying is imported or not, a bill was approved in a third debate, Bill 531, which establishes the mandatory use of labels that indicate whether the product is or of national origin or not.
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 president of the Dominican Republic has warned the U.S. government about the impact the Trans- Pacific treaty in the textile sector in the region.
From a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic:
On November 27, President Danilo Medina sent a communication to the President of the United States, Barack Obama, in which it reiterated its concern expressed during the meeting held in San José, Costa Rica, in May, in connection with the negative impact which could come from the Trans- Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) on the textile and clothing industry in the signatory countries of the DR -CAFTA and the region, if certain special concessions that could cause changes in the management and values of hemispheric trade, and on a worldwide level.
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:
After six years of proceedings, the certification for cheese makers in Santa Cruz de Turrialba, Costa Rica, makes it the first dairy product in the region to have a mark of origin.
The proliferation of international trade agreements brings the opportunity to add value to products by adding a mark of origin.
An article in Prensalibre.com quotes Fanny de Estrada, director of Competitiveness of the Guatemalan Exporters Association, who said that "marks of origin are the result of trade agreements. 'One country can demonstrate an interest in many marks of origin, but that's part of the negotiation. Marks of origin are mutually accepted. For example, in Europe is a very common practice. Whichever marks of origin you want can be added, as long as the other party agrees to it'".
The Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer) will centralize the process of control of origin and certifications for all FTAs.
The new rules apply to free trade agreements signed with China, Caricom, the partial one with Venezuela, and the European Union, said Luis Obando from the Chamber of Industries.
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.
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.
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.
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