Executive authorities and business representatives asked Congress to speed up the ratification of the Association Agreement with the United Kingdom, as the process must be completed by 31 October this year.
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.
Authorities from the European country are asking the region to speed up the processes so that the Association Agreement between the United Kingdom and Central America can be ratified before October 31 this year.
Since August 23, Simon McDonald, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, makes a tour through Central American countries, in which he has requested that the procedures for ratifying the Agreement signed with the region be expedited.
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. However, it cannot operate, because there is no legal framework.
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.
It was announced that the National Assembly of South Korea ratified the Free Trade Agreement signed with Central America.
The announcement was made by Seok-hyun Lee, deputy of the Korean assembly, who reported on the evening of August 2: "... We, the Korean National Assembly last night ratified the FTA with the nations of Central America.
By signing the Association Agreement with the European country, Central America achieved an export quota of 56 thousand metric tons of sugar free of tariffs.
Days ago it was reported that the association agreement signed guarantees Central American countries that with the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, there will not be a legal vacuum that interrupts trade relations with that country, while maintaining tariff preferences and legal guarantees for companies exporting to the United Kingdom.
The signed association agreement "guarantees Central American countries that with the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, there will be no legal vacuum and trade relations with that country will be interrupted and tariff preferences will be maintained, with all legal guarantees for Central American exporters to the United Kingdom."
The government of Guatemala informed that Julio Dougherty, Vice-Minister of Integration and Foreign Trade, together with the Ministers of Economy and Foreign Trade of Central America and the United Kingdom Ambassador in Costa Rica, Ross Denny, signed in Managua the document that establishes the Association Agreement that constitutes the mechanism to attend the preferential commercial relations regulated with the United Kingdom through the Association Agreement between Central America (CA) and the European Union (AACUE), on the occasion of BREXIT.
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.
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).
Peruvian producers are against the import quotas that were approved in the trade agreement between the two countries, arguing that sugar production in Guatemala is subsidized.
The dispute goes back several years, since the imposition of tariffs on Guatemalan sugar is the reason why the entry into force of the trade agreement was postponed, which had been signed by both countries in December 2011.
The first round of negotiations began in the South American country to expand the list of products already traded in the framework of the agreement that has been in force since 2013.
The agreement that entered into force on February 19, 2013, has allowed immediate access to 593 products with 100% tax relief. In addition, it reduces tariffs on 84 products between 20% and 100% over 3 and 7 years, informed the Guatemalan government.
Guatemalan authorities announced that negotiations with the South American country are practically finished, so that the entry into force of the agreement would soon be finalized.
Because of a series of disputes generated by the imposition of tariffs on Guatemalan sugar, the entry into force of the trade agreement, which had been signed by both countries in December 2011, was postponed.
In Guatemala, the business sector has already begun to analyze the market opportunities that will arise after the Salvadoran government decided to cancel the FTA with Taiwan.
The decision taken by the Sánchez Cerén administration in December last year will be implemented as of March 15, when the Free Trade Agreement between Taiwan and El Salvador will expire.
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