FTA signed between Central American countries and the European Union

2010-05-28

After eight rounds of negotiations since 2007, Central America and the EU finally signed the Free Trade Agreement on May 19th, 2010, in "The 6th EU, Latin America & the Caribbean Summit". It is expected to be formally implemented in 2012. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Guatemala, who said that when the agreement comes into effect, for industrial products, 99,2% of the Central American countries will enjoy tariff-free access to EU markets; 50,2% of the same products from EU countries will enjoy duty-free access to Central America markets; 57,75% of agricultural products from Central American countries to the EU markets will be duty-free, 34% of the same products from EU countries will be duty free to the Central American markets.