No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveFree-Trade Agreement Negotiations Stagnate

Free-Trade Agreement Negotiations Stagnate

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) – Negotiations for a free-trade agreement between El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Canada came to a stalemate at the last meeting in Ottawa on Friday, Honduran officials announced Wednesday.

“There were no important results in the last meeting, rather, it gave the impression it had stagnated,” said Honduran Chief Negotiator Melvin Redondo.

He described the last three years of talks as “poor” and said Canada took a rigid stance at the last meeting.

FOR example, the negotiator said, Canada demanded agricultural quotas similar to those that the Central American countries gave to the United States in the Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA). But Honduras established those quotas based on the demand from the Honduran market.

“If we gave Canada the same quota we would be hurting our national producers,”Redondo said.

Honduran Minister of Industry and Commerce, Norman García, said the Canadian proposal is “not attractive.”

“THE Canadians are practically saying: allow 80% of what we send there to enter free of tariffs and 20% of what you send will enter without tariffs,” García said.

The next meeting – the eleventh since negotiations began three years ago – will probably take place in June in Guatemala, Redondo said.

Costa Rica has had a free-trade agreement with Canada since 2002 and is the only Central American country to have one.

 

Trending Now

Costa Rica Launches Traceability System to Tackle Illegal Logging

Costa Rica is advancing with the creation of a National Forest Traceability System, a key tool to guarantee the legality and sustainability of timber...

Keylor Navas Joins Pumas After Controversial Exit from Newell’s

Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas is officially the newest player for Pumas UNAM, but his move from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys has been anything...

Can Costa Rica’s Blue Zone Preserve Its Longevity Legacy?

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is recognized worldwide as one of the five blue zones, where people live beyond the age of 90...

Costa Rica Tops Latin America in Attracting Foreign Millionaires

Costa Rica is a country that attracts millionaires. Projections indicate that by the end of 2025, a total of 350 foreign millionaires will have...

Panama Union Leader Saúl Méndez Goes into Exile in Bolivia

The leader of Panama’s main union, Saúl Méndez, accused of fraud and money laundering, left for exile in Bolivia this Saturday. He had taken...

Why I Choose Real Life in Costa Rica Over the AI Hype

When it comes to AI, call me OG. Old school. I sometimes wish I could go back to a time before it existed. Artificial...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica