PERU, COLOMBIA
AND CENTRAL AMERICA - The
European Parliament gave its consent to the Free Trade Agreement with Peru and Colombia
and to the Association Agreement with six Central American countries (Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) on 11 December. European
companies will benefit from lower import tariffs, reduced non-tariff measures
and a better access to the services and public procurement markets.
The agreement with Colombia and Peru should be provisionally applied in the first trimester 2013, the Central America agreement is expected to be followed in the course of the second quarter 2013. Both agreements still have to be ratified by all member states to be fully implemented.
SINGAPORE
The European Commission and Singapore completed the negotiations on an FTA on 16 December. The trade deal will remove non-tariff barriers and provide better market access. Both the EU and Singapore will now seek approval for the agreement from their respective political authorities and envisage initialing the draft agreement in spring 2013.