MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bilateral trade talks between EU and each Andean country

Delegates from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru begin Monday in Bogotá the first round of negotiations to reach a trade agreement with the European Union which should be completed by mid year.

Bogotá's meeting will extend until next Friday and is the first of four meetings which were agreed last December when block negotiations between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations, CAN, could not advance because of different positions among its members, mainly Bolivia. Under the new negotiation framework each CAN individual member will advance according to its national interests. In Bogotá each party will exchange negotiation texts and proposals; the second round is scheduled for March in Lima, Peru, followed by talks in Brussels in May and the final event will take place in June. The negotiation process will be divided into 13 sections, among which market access; tariffs and non tariffs resources; farm produce, origin rules; customs; trade promotion; technical obstacles and sanitary measures for animals and plants. Other aspects include trade protection; services; capital movements; government purchases; dispute arbitration; intellectual property; competition; trade and sustainable development. Last month in Brussels the negotiations framework for a free trade agreement was described as "multiparty, ambitious, exhaustive and compatible" with the World Trade Organization rules, said Colombian Trade minister Luis Guillermo Plata. "We need reciprocal commitments and common rules" and when necessary "admit we Andean countries have our differences", explained Plata. "Participants will have to assume compromises in all of the negotiation issues and include negotiations with WTO for a substantial liberation of both goods and services", underlined the Colombian minister. At the end of January the European Council authorized the Commission to start trade talks with Colombia and neighbouring Andean countries "who are willing to so and share our general objectives". "Colombia, Ecuador and Peru said they are interested to start those negotiations, and the European Commission said Bolivia, the remaining member of the Andean Community, can join the negotiations when it wants", said the brief statement.