Home Historia Análisis y Publicaciones
Documentos oficiales - Official Documents
  Background note for EU Member States on the EU-Peru-Colombia Trade Agreement
   

(Preliminary version)

The European Commission concluded trade talks on 1 March 2010 with Peru and Colombia in view of the signature of a Multiparty Trade Agreement between the EU and Andean countries. During the 9th round of negotiations that took place in Brussels, the last working groups (rules of origin ; sustainable development ; intellectual property and market access-agriculture) concluded their work and chief negotiators reached an agreement on the key remaining elements of the trade deal. The result is both well balanced and ambitious with substantial gains on both sides on market access and rules. The agreement satisfies our requirements in terms of market opening for our key agricultural exports such as dairy products, pork meat, wines and spirits, malt, olive oil etc. These tariff gains are accompanied in addition by essential disciplines on geographical indications as well as important progress regarding some difficult non-tariff barriers such as the alcohol monopolies or the tax discrimination in Colombia on spirits. Regarding industrial products the agreement also includes very significant steps including tariff dismantling for passenger cars substantially below the 10 year limit and a total elimination of duties at entry into force on a considerable number of tariff lines.

There are therefore some very noteworthy US+ ingredients in this deal including : automobiles tariffs ; better coverage at entry into force for electrical products and machinery ; commitments on non-tariff barriers for spirits and automobiles ; establishment in non-service sectors ; transport, public procurement, and the environment coverage of the sustainable development chapter. At the same time the EU has maintained all its major red lines and notably in terms of agriculture and rules of origin. On Bananas we reached the natural inflexion point of the tariff – corresponding to the in-quota tariff rate granted to Latin American countries under the previous scheme. On sugar and rum the trade accord goes no further than what was agreed in the framework of the banana/tropical products/preference erosion settlement in Geneva. Finally on mode 4 the agreement is also very reasonable (below our commitments with Cariforum).

Peru and Colombia for their part will benefit from substantial new access to the EU market of 500 million consumers in particular for their key agriculture exports. The EU will grant as of entry into force 100% coverage for industrial products and fisheries. Nonetheless, Colombia and Peru (as well as potential investors in these countries) will now be able to count on the legal certainty of an FTA rather than concessions granted under a unilateral scheme. On the other hand, the EU will secure a transparent, non-discriminatory and predictable environment for its investments. Finally, the agreement counts with a cooperation chapter aimed at promoting competitiveness and innovation ; modernising production, facilitating trade and the transfer of technology between the parties.

With regard to political clauses, the agreement includes a robust essential elements clause that comprises both a human rights and a weapons of mass destruction indent. These aspects can be invoked by any party as grounds for the unilateral suspension of trade preferences, if necessary, without prior consultation according to the parties’ relevant domestic procedures (in the case of the EU art. 218 TFEU). Finally the text counts with a regional integration clause and leaves the door open for other Andean countries to enter into the agreement.

AGRICULTURE

Offensive interests :

- Spirits and notably whisky and vodka : immediate liberalisation with PER ; 10 years for whisky and vodka with COL, all others liberalised immediately.
- Dairy : On milk powder, cheese, and processed dairy products we got from both COL and PER zero-duty Tariff Rate Quotas at entry into force of the agreement covering substantially more than existing trade and growing 10% each year, accompanied of full dismantling up to 17 years (PER) or 15 years (COL).
- Whey : will be fully and immediately liberalised with Peru and after 3 years with Colombia, which will also open a duty free TRQ in year 0 covering the existing trade and growing by 10% during the transition period. This agreement de facto immediately liberalises access to these countries, matching the concessions obtained by the US.
- Wines : tariff dismantling in 3 years with PER for non sparkling bottled wines, and in 5 years for sparkling wines, immediate liberalisation with COL.
- Pork : tariff dismantling in 5 years with COL for hams and other preparations, in up to 5-7 years with PER for all meats and preparations with a duty free TRQ of 4000t and a 10%growth rate.
- Olive oil : immediate liberalisation with both – better than any other partner in PER, parity with US in case of COL.

Defensive :

- Bananas : the EU will cut its tariff on bananas down to 75 €/t, by 1 January 2020. 75 €/t corresponds to the MFN in-quota rate existing during the previous importing regime on bananas before the move to the tariff-only in 2006. This should be compared to the MFN 114 €/t level agreed in Geneva in last December that should apply as of 2017.
- Our bananas offer also foresees a special safeguard triggering a suspension of preferential treatment in case of a surge in imports from those countries beyond a certain threshold : 67 500 t. for PER for the year 2010, to be increased each year by 3 750 t., 1 350 000 t. for COL for the same year 2010, to be increased each year by 67 500 t. until 31.12.2019. This safeguard will cease to apply once the preferential duty reaches 75 €/t. in 2020.
- Sugar : duty-free quotas on sugar will be opened to COL (62 000 t) and PER (22 000t), as indicated in Geneva last year, with a small annual growth rate (3%). Products with high sugar content originating in COL and PER will also benefit from duty free quotas of respectively 20 000 t and 10 000 tonnes. These quotas can be merged by PER only if they so wish after 3 years.
- Rice : PER will be given a duty-free TRQ of 34 000t with an annual growth of 3 400t. Rice is reciprocally excluded from the agreement with COL.
- Rum : the sensitive bulk rum tariff lines will not be liberalised (TRQ of 1 500 hl and 1 000 hl of pure alcohol equivalent respectively will apply to COL and PER, with in both cases an annual growth of 100 hl), while the less sensitive duties on bottled rum will be dismantled over 3 years.
- Beef : the EU will open a duty-free TRQ of 2 150t to PER and 8 000t. to COL.

MANUFACTURED GOODS AND FISHERIES

- The agreement provides for full coverage for industrial products and fisheries. Dismantling will be gradual over a 10 year period. Immediate liberalisation for these two categories of products has been granted for 80% of EU exports to PER and 65% of EU exports to COL. After 5 years an additional 18% of tariff lines will reach 0 in COL ; 6% in PER. The remaining tariff lines are zeroed after 10 years. If we compare to agreements with other major trading partners : the US has obtained immediate liberalisation for a slightly higher value of exports (70%) in COL but the EU has obtained more favourable treatment in key EU export sectors.

- For COL : Motor vehicles will be liberalised within 7 years (10 in the case of the US-COL). The EU has also obtained immediate liberalisation for a high share of products in the following sectors : medical equipment (95%) ; footwear (100%) ; construction equipment (87%) ; machinery (75%), electrical and electronic equipment (63%), ITA (75%) ; chemicals (90%) and cosmetics (45%), pharmaceuticals (45%) ; textiles and clothing (80%). Longer staging has been limited to furniture ; wood ; toys ; and glass.

- With PER, the EU obtained immediate liberalisation on entire categories such as agriculture and construction equipment ; medical equipment ; steel ; ITA ; textiles and clothing ; ceramics, machinery and optical instruments. The only items for which longer staging applies are furniture, leather and glass which represent in any case limited amounts of EU exports. For passenger cars there is immediate liberalisation for vehicles above 3000cc, liberalisation in 6 years for vehicles between 1600 and 3000cc, and complete dismantling of tariffs over 10 years for passenger cars below 1600cc.

- The EU has granted 100% coverage of industrial products and fisheries at entry into force.

SERVICES AND ESTABLISHMENT

- The services and establishment commitments obtained from Colombia and Peru match key EU interests in this negotiation. The agreed services and establishment title is based on the EU’s services and investment template, both in terms of structure and coverage.

- In accordance with the negotiating directives, on top of opening services trade and investment, by means of the separate capital movements title, the future agreement will also liberalise current payments and capital movements between the parties. The compromise on safeguard measures is fully compatible with the provisions of the EU Treaty.

- There is also a separate cultural cooperation protocol negotiated. In the absence of any trade-related issue therein, this protocol will not be formally part of the FTA, but will be proposed for adoption at the same time as the FTA itself, with separate conditions for its entry into force.

- With regard to certain sectors, the commitments offered by Andean countries’ are at least as good as the ones offered in other major FTAs. As compared, for example, to their respective FTAs with the United States, improved concessions were obtained by the EU in areas such as market access in non-services sectors, key personnel or in maritime and air transport services.

- In terms of mode 4, the final deal is a very reasonable one. As concerns the sensitive mode 4 sectors (like Contractual Service Suppliers and Independent Professionals), the final commitments fully respect the concept of granting EPA preferences in mode 4. The different level of mode 4 commitments agreed with the two countries reflect a slightly different balance, also taking into account the establishment commitments offered by them to the EU.

- Finally the deal is DDA-proof. The commitments obtained from Colombia and Peru reach significantly beyond the multilateral commitments offered so far by these Andean countries, so the bilateral preferences remain valid even if and when the DDA would be concluded.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

- With regard to Public Procurement, the deals concluded with both Colombia and Peru are highly ambitious, and the access to procurement markets agreed with both partners reaches well beyond the coverage we or they give in FTAs with other partners.

- On the EU side, in addition to Government Procurement Agreement commitments, we have granted them access to the procurement of all our central government authorities, to our railway and gas operators as well as to our works concessions.

- In addition to what Peru and Colombia have given to any third country, EU operators will benefit from full access to the procurement of local municipalities, national treatment in service concessions and airports as well as the purchases of engineering services and printing services (Colombia). As engineering services are often coupled with construction works, EU companies will be among the only ones to enjoy all the security to bid for contracts from public works in Colombia and Peru.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

- Overall the EU has reached a good outcome and the agreement is GSP+ equivalent or above, depending on the specific issue, as regards labour and environment substantive commitments. There are strong institutional provisions, including civil society involvement and recourse to an independent group of experts to settle differences.

- On environment, the agreement’s substantive commitments are an improvement if compared with GSP+ in so far as (i) one important convention (Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in international trade on international trade in chemicals and pesticides) is added to the GSP+ list of multilateral environmental agreements ; (ii) there is a clause on the possibility for the Parties to discuss and jointly recommend addition of more conventions ; (iii) there are obligations on the effective enforcement of, and non-derogation from, domestic environmental laws ; and (iv) there are specific provisions on trade in forestry products, fisheries products, biological diversity and climate change with varying status and degrees of commitment depending on the subject-matter . The environmental coverage is thus broader than under the GSP regulation or the US agreements with Colombia and Peru.

- On labour, the agreement’s substantive commitments are in line with GSP+, i.e. the effective implementation in law and practice of core ILO labour standards, as contained in the fundamental ILO Conventions. This is thus significantly better than US agreements. The Chapter actually goes beyond GSP+ in some regards, e.g. : (a) obligations on the effective enforcement of, and non-derogation from, domestic labour laws, (b) recognition of the ILO decent work principles and their relevance for trade and labour. The Chapter also includes a provision on equality of treatment as regards working conditions, with a focus on migrant workers legally employed in the Parties’ respective territories.

- Public participation and the Parties’ engagement with civil society are important elements in the Chapter. There are several relevant provisions, among which :
- Transparency and publicity of the work of the joint body overseeing the implementation of the chapter, which shall be open to receive and consider input from the public ;
- Consultation of civil society stakeholders at the domestic level : domestic consultative committees may submit opinions and make recommendations on the implementation of the Chapter, including on their own initiative ;
- A common forum for the Parties’ engagement with Colombian, Peruvian and European civil society, consisting of sessions with civil society organisations and the public at large.

- As far as the institutional mechanisms are concerned, the provisions are similar to those in the EU-Korea agreement. Differences can be settled through recourse to an independent and impartial group of experts that issues public reports on matters brought to its attention.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

- Through this agreement we will ensure an adequate and effective level of protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights and other rights covered by TRIPS including protection of geographical indications, with a view to reducing distortions and impediments to bilateral trade and fostering investment and economic development.

- International Agreements : TRIPS achievements are safeguarded and complemented. In order to ensure to right-holders from both Parties a high level of protection of intellectual property rights, the IP chapter includes provisions which clarify and complement certain TRIPS provisions in a manner that takes into account the specific interests of the parties.

- Obligations already undertaken by all Parties under other international Agreements in the area are reaffirmed (especially WIPO Internet Treaties, other Treaties in the area of copyrights, patents, trademarks, designs and plant varieties). In addition, for well-established IPRs like copyright, trademarks, or patents, there is a reference to the adherence/compliance to the main international conventions (Madrid Protocol). This reference to the main relevant international conventions is made either in the form of a firm commitment or in the form of a best-endeavours clause (meaning that CO and PE can adhere when they feel ready to do so).

- The Agreement underlines the importance of promoting access to medicines. Direct reference is made to the Doha Declaration on the TRIPs Agreement and Public Health and the 2003 WTO Decision on compulsory licensing

- Protection of biological diversity : The agreed text is in line with the EU’s negotiation lines in international negotiations (CBD, WTO and WIPO), while offering satisfaction to the Andeans that are countries with important genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

- As far as well established IPRs such as trademarks, patents and designs, plant varieties are concerned : the text respects the EU acquis, as well as the specificities of certain national laws in these areas.

- As far as copyrights are concerned, the text respects the EU acquis, as well as the Andean one which in this are is already well developed ; it also introduces references for protection of technological measures, rights management and promotes the artist’s resale right. On copyright, there are also provisions on the facilitation of arrangements between collecting societies in order to ensure that right holders from both sides are adequately remunerated for the use of their music or other artistic works in the territory of the other party.

- Protection of geographical indications. With respect to GIs the Agreement provides for a protection of a list of 205 EU GIs against a list of 4 Andean GIs. Due to the existence of a binding Andean Community legal framework and the fact that only 2 among 4 Andean countries are negotiating with us, CO & PE were unable to accept commitments on the level of protection higher that the ones already implemented there, without running the risk to contradict Andean Community common rules. In order to address this peculiar situation, the EC negotiated a pragmatic solution with ad hoc approaches concerning in particular the resolution of conflicts with pre-existing trademarks.

The Agreement allows :
- To register under a single application a large number of EU names
- To benefit from a particular accelerated registration procedure (6-7 months)
- To ensure co-existence with pre-existing trademarks and solve more than 70 conflicts that were previously identified
- To add more names in the list under the same procedure once the Agreement is in force
- To simplify the content of the technical file to be normally submitted when applying under the normal national systems (important for wines and spirits for the EU)
- To simplify the conditions of use of our GIs in CO & PE (absence of control of compliance with technical standards)
- To have the possibility to ask local administrations to solve problems of misuse and to benefit from the FTAs dispute settlement system.

- On protection of data of regulated products (pharmaceuticals, pesticides), we found a balanced solution between the EU acquis in the area and the Andean requests ; the existence of similar provisions in other FTAs signed by CO and PE has been used as a guide from both sides to deal with this very sensitive matter. In our text, we established clear rules that determine, in a more precise way than 39.3 TRIPS, rights and obligations from both sides.

- The most elaborated provisions are on enforcement of IPRs, i.e. the measures and procedures to be put in place to ensure effective implementation of the already existing TRIPS requirements to the benefits of all right holders, local and foreign. In this respect, the provisions on enforcement aim to ensure that the legislation of both parties provides to CO, PE and EU right holders the necessary tools to defend these rights effectively. These tools include for example civil and administrative measures and procedures and border enforcement measures. This is also important to ensure that CO PE and EU right holders can effectively benefit from the rights they are conferred. In the enforcement of rights part of the IPR Title, the majority of the EU acquis rules (as established in the 2004/48 directive) have been introduced ; rules have also been established for the liability of internet service providers, once again in agreement with the EU acquis (e-commerce directives).

- In this agreement there are rules on ordinary and ex-officio border measures that go beyond TRIPs covering copyrights, trademarks and in the future will cover GIs.

- Finally the IPR Title contains provisions on technology transfer and scientific cooperation, and rules for cooperation in the area of IPR enforcement ; it also establishes a specific Committee that will be a privileged means for an effective dialogue in this area.

COMPETITION, SUBSIDIES AND STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES (STEs)

- The Parties are required to ban through their national and regional legislation the most harmful anticompetitive practices including restrictive agreements, cartels and abuse of dominance. They will also prohibit mergers, which significantly impede competition. Independent competition authorities will enforce the above rules in a transparent, timely and non-discriminatory manner, respecting the principles of procedural fairness and rights of defence. These commitments will lock in such good practices in Colombia and Peru thereby providing EU companies operating in these countries with a level playing field.

- Monopolies and public enterprises will be submitted to competition law without exception of any sector. At the same time, also bearing in mind the situation in the EU Member States, the necessary room for manoeuvre has been preserved in order to allow these entities to perform the specific public tasks assigned to them by governments. The Parties will therefore refrain from adopting or maintaining any measure contrary to the provisions of the Competition Chapter, which distorts trade and/or investment between the Parties. In virtue of these provisions neither side will be able to stand in the way of an effective enforcement of competition rules via the actions of state-controlled entities or by adopting legislative or individual measures.

- Additional disciplines for STEs were also agreed : e.g. : the scope of the National Treatment principle was clarified explicitly mentioning that it also extends to local treatment. Local governments must treat imported products which are directly in competition with the imported goods no less favourably than they treat locally produced goods (This obligation always applies within the department/province on which the local authority exercises jurisdiction). Furthermore, STEs always need to comply with the obligations of the FTA, not only in their purchases or sales but also when they exercise any governmental authority delegated to them at any level of the administration.

- In addition, the definition of STEs is based on the EU approach. It captures all entities through which the central and sub-central authorities or other public bodies are in a position, to supervise, determine or appreciably influence, either directly or indirectly, imports or exports. This result is particularly positive in view of the discriminatory measures applied by local authorities against some European importers (in particular in view of the problems European liquor producers are facing in COL).

- The FTA also contains a separate provision on transparency for subsidies according to which the Parties will regularly report on the legal basis, form, amount or budget and where possible, the recipient of the subsidy granted by its government or any public body. The Parties have further agreed to exchange information upon request of either Party on matters related to subsidies in services and to hold the first exchange of views on these issues one year after the entry into force of the FTA. This section of the agreement is a solid basis for assessing potential anti-competitive effects of subsidies (including domestic aid) and the possibility of having a regular dialogue on subsidies, including on subsidies in services (an area not yet captured by WTO rules). This provides a framework for the EU to share its experience with Colombia and Peru, who do not have state aid control regimes in place.

TRADE DEFENCE INSTRUMENTS

- Overall provisions on trade defence are similar to those of EU’s agreement with Korea. The Agreement confirms rights and obligations of the parties under WTO anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguards agreements as well as strengthens the discipline in the use of these instruments by re-affirming the provisions on transparency of proceedings. With Colombia agreement was also reached to include references to public interest test and lesser-duty rule.

- The Agreement also includes a bilateral safeguard clause that allows a party to suspend preferences where rise in imports of a product from the other party is causing or threatening to cause serious injury to its domestic industry. Taking into account the interests of the EU’s outermost regions, the Agreement provides for a special safeguard for the outermost regions allowing the suspension of preferences for direct imports of a certain product into a given outermost region in a case where such imports are causing or threatening to cause serious deterioration of the economic situation of that outermost region.



 
     
     
     
     
 
Enlazando Alternativas | Red Birregional UE - ALC | 2007
Resolución mínima recomendada: 800 x 600 ppp
Espacio Privado