WT/REG310/M/1  
 
2 May 2013  
(13-2329) Page: 1/3  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Sixty-eighth Session    
 
CONSIDERATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN  
CHINA AND COSTA RICA, GOODS AND SERVICES 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 9-10 APRIL 2013 
Chairman: Mr. F. Riegert (France) and Ambassador Francisco Lima Mena (El Salvador) 
1.1.  The 68th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/4084/Rev.1 dated 28 March 2013. 
1.2.  Under Agenda Item B.II of this session, the CRTA considered the Free Trade Agreement 
(FTA) between China and Costa Rica (hereinafter "the Agreement"). 
1.3.  The Chairman said that the Agreement had entered into force on 1 August 2011. It had been 
notified to the WTO by the Parties on 27 February 2012 under Article XXIV:7(a) of the GATT 1994 
and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994 as an Agreement 
establishing a free trade area (document WT/REG/310/N/1) and under GATS Article V:7(a) as an 
Agreement providing for the liberalization of trade in  services within the meaning of Article V of the 
GATS (document S/C/N/618). The text of the Agreement was available, together with its Annexes, 
on the Parties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects 
(document WT/REG310/1 dated 16 January 2013) 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 Ag reements (document WT/L/671) ("TM"). Written 
questions and replies on this Agreement had been distributed in document WT/REG310/2 dated 
22 March 2013. He proposed to organize the consideration of the Agreement by first asking the Parties and then other Members to give any general comments and then use the Factual 
Presentation, document WT/REG310/1, to guide the discussion. 
1.4.  The representative of China thanked the Se cretariat for preparing the factual presentation, 
and the European Union, Japan, Canada, Colombia  and Australia for their questions. He also 
thanked Costa Rica for jointly preparing for the review. Costa Rica was China's second largest 
trade partner in the Central American region, while China was Costa Rica's second largest global trade partner.  The bilateral FTA between China and Costa Rica had been signed in 2010 with the 
view to strengthening bilateral cooperation and achieving mutually beneficial results. It featured 
wide coverage and a high degree of trade liberalizat ion. For China, a total of 96.7% of tariff lines 
had been liberalized, corresponding to 100% of im ports by value from Costa Rica for the period 
2008-2010. In the case of Costa Rica, a total of 91.1% of tariff lines had been liberalized, 
corresponding to 85.1% of imports by value from China for the period 2008-2010. More 
importantly, more than 90% of goods traded  between China and Costa Rica would enjoy 
zero-tariffs on a stage-by-stage basis.  
1.5.  In terms of trade in services, more servic es sectors and subsectors would be further opened 
bilaterally based on their respective WTO commitments. Costa Rica had agreed to further open 45 service sectors and sub-sectors, including te lecommunication services, commercial services, 
construction, real estate, distribution, education, environment, computers and tourism services. 
China had agreed to further liberalize seven services sectors and sub-sectors, including computer 
services, real estate, market research, translatio n and interpretation and sport. Wide convergence 
had also been reached in many other areas such as IPR, trade relief, rules of origin, customs WT/REG310/M/1 
 
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  procedures, technical barriers to trade, health and plant inspection and quarantine and 
cooperation.  
1.6.  The bilateral trade and investment relationsh ip had significantly improved since the entry into 
force of the FTA. As for merchandise trade, bilateral trade had reached US$6.17 billion in 2012, 
representing a 30.5% increase year-on-year. China's exports to Costa Rica had amounted to 
US$0.9 billion showing a 2% increase, while its imports from Costa Rica had jumped to US$5.27 billion increasing by 37.1%. On trade in serv ices, there continued to be strong interest by 
businesses in both China and Costa Rica in pursuing opportunities for bilateral services trade, 
especially in travel, education, transportation and other business services.  
1.7.  To conclude he said that the China-Cost a Rica FTA was a milestone in the history of the 
bilateral relationship between the two countries. It was also a significant step in the 
implementation of China's FTA strategy. China would continue to work closely to promote and 
implement the FTA and make it a sound and co mprehensive platform to promote and develop 
bilateral trade and investment, and to satisfactori ly address trade and economic matters arising in 
the bilateral trading relationship. 
1.8.  The representative of Costa Rica was grat eful for the opportunity to present, along with 
China, the free trade agreement (FTA) between th eir countries. She also thanked the Secretariat 
for the factual presentation, and colleagues from China for the preparatory work for this review. 
1.9.  She said the objective of the agreement was to strengthen and diversify trade relations 
between both countries and to create new opportunities that would improve the level of development of their populations. Negotiations for the agreement had begun in January 2009. It 
had entered into force on 1 August 2011 and had been notified to the Committee on Regional 
Trade Agreements by the parties on 27 February 2012. The regulatory framework of the FTA was based on the fundamental principles of the mu ltilateral trading system, namely, national 
treatment, most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment and transparency. 
1.10.  The Agreement comprised of 16 chapters and their respective annexes. It addressed issues 
related to trade in both goods and services and included provisions on, inter alia , rules of origin 
and related operational procedures; customs procedures; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; 
and technical barriers to trade. 
1.11.  With respect to trade and investment relations between Costa Rica and China, she noted 
that from 2002 to 2012 trade (both exports and imports) had grown significantly at an average 
annual rate of 36.9%. Exports from Costa Rica to China had seen an average annual increase of 
39.8% while imports had risen by 27.2%. Since the agreement had entered into force on 1 August 2011, there had been an upward trend in trade. The agreement was thus fulfilling its 
objective of strengthening trade relations, by significantly increasing trade flows. 
1.12.  Traditionally, Costa Rican exports to Chin a had been primarily microprocessor-based, with 
these products accounting for 96.9% of total exports in 2012. However, there had been a 
significant trend towards diversification since the FTA had entered into force. Business 
opportunities for Costa Rican agricultural products such as frozen orange pulp, leather, ornamental plants, bananas and coffee had been successfully id entified and seized. Some industrial products 
such as lamp-holders, sockets and electrical conductors had also entered China. Ninety-three 
Costa Rican companies had participated in this market in 2012, 42 of which had entered China for 
the first time. 
1.13.  Imports from China were mainly goods for industrial and productive use. For example, 
in 2012, containers had accounted for the largest share of imports, followed by mobile telephones, 
switching and routing apparatus, cotton fabrics and beans, etc. 
1.14.  Although the agreement did not include spec ific provisions on investment, as there was an 
agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investment between Costa Rica and China 
awaiting legislative approval, a significant increase  in investment opportunities had been observed, 
thanks to closer trade ties between the two countries. During the period 2002-2012, the stock of foreign direct investment from China in Costa Rica had totalled US$20 million. Investment from 
China had reached a ten-year high of US$4.8 million in 2012, targeting the financial and real WT/REG310/M/1 
 
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  estate sectors. The FTA offered opportunities to increase trade between Costa Rica and China and 
had served as a trade-facilitating mechanism that had opened up non-traditional markets to Costa Rica. 
1.15.  She noted that with a view to ensuring th e effective administration and implementation of 
the FTA, the first meeting of the Free Trade Commission had been held in August 2012. Trade 
development had been assessed, some disputes related to certificates of origin had been settled, and the committees on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and rules 
of origin had commenced their activities. The two countries had been working on mechanisms, 
such as sanitary protocols, that would facilitate even greater access to the Chinese market for Costa Rican products. Protocols for leather, bananas, beef and dairy products were currently in force, and instruments for pork, chicken, seafood, pineapple and melon were being negotiated. 
1.16.  The FTA had generated benefits  for both China and Costa Rica by, inter alia , stimulating 
trade expansion and diversification, promoting conditions of free competition, removing barriers to trade reciprocally, facilitating cross-border movement of goods and services, increasing investment 
opportunities in both countries, creating effective procedures for the implementation and 
administration of the agreement, and establishing a framework for bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation. 
1.17.  The Costa Rican Government was firmly committed to the multilateral trading system. 
Agreements such as these, which were based on  WTO disciplines, promoted economic growth and 
efficiency of the parties involved and they were complementary to multilateral trade liberalization. 
1.18.  Finally, Costa Rica thanked the Chairman  again for the opportunity to present the FTA 
between China and Costa Rica, an instrument which, in the just over a year and a half that it had 
been in force, had allowed trade opportunities between their countries to be fostered. She also thanked all delegations that submitted question s prior to this meeting and remained at the 
Committee's disposal to answer any questions that Members might have in relation to the 
agreement. 
1.19.  The European Union thanked the parties fo r their presentation and also for the timely 
submission of information for the preparation of  the FP. The EU had presented written questions 
and in general, was satisfied with the replies received. However he reminded China that the EU was still waiting to receive the laws and regulations applying to future options and derivatives. There were some questions referring to Article 98 of the Agreement. 
1.20.  The representative of China took note of the concerns of the EU. He was unable to provide 
the information then but would do so at the earliest possible date. 
1.21.  The representative of Colombia thanked the parties for their presentation and for the 
answers to the questions submitted by Colombia which were found to be complete and satisfactory 
and she had no further questions. 
1.22.  The Chairman said that the consideration of the Goods and Services Aspects of the Free 
Trade Agreement between China and Costa Rica had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of 
questions and the oral discussion of this RTA could be concluded in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism. If any delegations wished to ask follow up questions they were invited to forward submissions in writing to th e Secretariat by 16 April 2013 and Parties were 
asked to submit replies in writing by no later than 30 April 2013. In accordance with paragraph 13 
of the Transparency Mechanism all written submissi ons, as well as minutes of this meeting would 
be circulated promptly, in all WTO official languages, and would be made available on the 
WTO website.  
1.23.  The Committee took note of the comments made. 
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