WT/REG332/M/1  
 
26 July 2022 
(22-5640) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and Third  Session    
 
ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
(COSTA RICA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, AND PANAMA)  
(GOODS AND SERVICES)  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  27 JUNE 2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho  LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
1.1.  The 10 3rd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 28/Rev.1  dated 1 7 June 2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.VI of the Session, the CRTA considered the  Trade Pillar of the Association 
Agreement between the European Union and Central America  - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama  - goods and services (hereinafter "the Agreement"). The Chairman  
stated that the Factual Presentation had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own responsibility 
in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency  
Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (document WT/L/671).  
1.3.  He indicated that  the Agreement ha d been applied since 1 August 2013 for the EU, Honduras, 
Nicaragua and Panama; since 1 October 2013 for Costa Rica and El Salvador; and since 
1 December  2013 fo r Guatemala. It had been notified to the WTO by the Parties on 
27 February  2013 under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994 and GATS  Article  V:7(a) , in documents 
WT/REG332/N/1 and S/C/N/680) , as an agreement establishing a free trade area for trade in goods 
within the meaning of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 and for trade in services within the meaning of 
Article V of the GATS, respectively . The text of the Agreement and its Annexes was available on the 
Parties' official websites and in the WTO RTA database. A n updated notification with the respective 
dates of entry into force of the Agreement  had been  subsequently circulated, as Addenda, on 
21 March 2021.  The Factual Presentation, documents WT/REG332/1, and questions and replies, 
documents WT/REG332/2 and WT/R EG332/2/Add.1/Rev.1, ha d been distributed.  
1.4.  The representative of  Panama  noted that her country  had been designated to address the 
Committee in its capacity of President Pro Tempore of the Central American Economic Integration 
Subsystem . Therefore, speaking on behalf of the Parties to the Agreement , thank ed the Committee 
for the space  to present  the Factual Presentation on the Agreement. The Parties  also thank ed the 
WTO Secretariat for having produced the report and organiz ed the meeting, as well as all the WTO 
Members for their interest in the Agreement, as reflected in the high number of questions they had  
received.  
1.5.  Cooperation between the European Union and Central America had begun  in the 1980s through 
the San José Dialogue. In 2007, th e Parties had decided to bring that cooperation to a higher and 
wider level to negotiate the Agreement which had been signed on 29 June 2012.  The Agreement 
had three pillars: policy, cooperation and trade, complemented by institutional provisions. The trad e 
pillar (Part IV) of the Agreement ha d been applied since 2013, was wide in scope and high ly 
ambitio us. It was the first region -to-region Free Trade Agreement that the European Union and 
Central America had concluded.  
1.6.  Its objective was to deepen  and diversify the Parties' bi -regional trade relation s, in line with 
the WTO Agreement, contributing at the same time to greate r economic growth, the gradual 
improvement of the quality of life and better integration in to the global  economy.  In addition, i t WT/REG332/M/1  
 
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  aimed to maintain and develop the level of good governance, social, labour and environmental 
standards which had been reached through the effective implementation of international conventions 
to which the Parties were signatories.  The Agreement promote d growth in trade and investment 
among st the Parties, taking into account special and differential treatment in order to reduce existing 
structural asymmetries.  
1.7.  The Agreement had a wide scope of coverage , including  trade in goods, services and 
investment  as well as  customs , trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures, government procurement, intellectual property rights, competition, 
regional integration, and trade and sustainable development.  She stressed that  through  the tariff 
elimination process, more that 90% of customs duties ha d been eliminated, boosting trade and 
investment between the Parties and providing legal predictability for economic operators.  A robust 
institutional framework ha d been established since i ts implementation, within which, through annual 
meetings, the Parties' representatives, advisory groups and civil society exchange d views , oversaw  
and ensure d the effective implementation of the Agreement. An example was the 8th annual meeting 
of the Assoc iation Committee which had been  held in Brussels  in the previous week , to commemorate 
the 10th anniversary of the signature of the Agreement.  
1.8.  Since  2013, exports from the European Union to Central America ha d grown by 44%  while 
exports from Central America to the European Union ha d increased by 96%. Trade in agricultural 
products had continue d to flourish since the implementation of the Agreement, wi th a balance that 
was largely favourable to Central America. With regard to trade in services, prior to 2020, exports 
from Central America to the European Union had grown  by 83%.  
1.9.  She highlighted  three of the outcomes of the recent Association Committee mee ting, namely 
the inclusion of 11 new geographical indications from Central America in the list of indications 
protected under the Agreement, the development of a single window for government procurement 
in Central America, and the completion of technical w ork to update the rules of origin specific to the 
Harmonized System 2022. She conclude d by stressing  the resilience of the Agreement, which, 
despite the current economic and geopolitical challenges, ha d allowed trade and investment links to 
be further stre ngthened between Central America and the European Union.  The Parties  trusted that 
together they would continue to build a solid foundation based on the cooperation and dialogue  
promote d by the Agreement.  
1.10.  The representative of the European Union  thanked the Secretariat for the work in preparing 
the Factual Presentation and Panama for presenting the Agreement on their joint behalf. She also 
thanked Members for their interest and the questions submitted.  
1.11.  The representative of Canada  thanked the Euro pean Union and Central American Members 
for the transparency displayed in this exercise.  
1.12.  The representative of the United States  thank ed the European Union , Costa Rica , El Salvador , 
Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua and Panama for their presentation and for participating  in this very 
valuable transparency exercise.  
1.13.  The Chairman  noted the consideration of the Association Agreement between the European 
Union and Central America had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and  conclude 
oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. Any 
delegations wishing to ask follow -up questions were invited to forward submissions in writing to the 
Secretariat by 4 July 2022 and the Parties were ask ed to submit replies in writing by no later than 
18 July 2022. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written 
submissions, as well as the minutes of the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO official 
languages, and mad e available on the WTO website.  
1.14.  The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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