WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG272/M/1 
21 December 2010 
 (10-6830) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Fifty-ninth Session  
 
 
 
CONSIDERATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN  
COLOMBIA AND CHILE, GOODS AND SERVICES 
 
Note on the Meeting of 29 and 30 November 2010  
 
Chairman:  Mr A. Suescum (Panama) 
 
 1. The meeting was convened in document WT O/AIR/3643/Rev.1, dated 19 November 2010. 
2. Under Agenda Item D.IV of its 59
th Session, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
(hereinafter CRTA or the Committee) considered the Free Trade Agreement between the Colombia 
and Chile (hereinafter the 'Agreement'), goods and services.  
3. The Chairman  said that the Agreement had entered into force on 8 May 2009 and had been 
notified by the Parties to the WTO on 14 August 2009 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/REG272/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/509).  The text of the Agreem ent was available, together with its Annexes, 
on the Parties' official websites.  The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects (document WT/REG272/1, dated 21 September 2010) had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own 
responsibility in full consultation with the Parti es, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the 
Transparency Mechanism (TM) fo r Regional Trade Agreements (doc ument WT/L/671).  In addition, 
written questions and replies on the Agreement had been recently distributed in document
 
WT/REG272/2, dated 25 November 2010.  He pr oposed to organize the consideration of the 
Agreement by first asking the Parties and then ot her Members for general comments.  The Committee 
would then turn to the specifics of the Agreement using the Factual Presentation to guide the debate.  
He proposed to go through the Factual Presentation sec tion by section, and then look at the questions 
and replies document.  
4. The representative of Colombia  thanked the delegation of Chile, since this country was a 
close friend and neighbour with trusted bilatera l relations, and the Secretariat for the Factual 
Presentation which clearly reflected the commitm ents and obligations of the Parties under 
consideration by the Committee.  The background  of the Agreement was found in Partial Scope 
Agreement 14, concluded in the framework of the Montevideo Treaty of 1980, which represented an 
important step and fresh impetus to bilateral trade re lations and had led, in June 1992, to the start of 
negotiations between the Parties on a broader agreem ent to develop further the partnership between 
their economies.  Such negotiations had concluded with the signing of Partial Scope Agreement 24 
(hereinafter "ACE 24") on 6 December 1993.  ACE 24 had established a tariff elimination programme 
which took into account the complementarity and sen sitivities of the two economies.  This programme 
covered all tariffs, except for a small number of lines - 506 lines for Colombia under the Harmonized 
System of 1992 -  which were its most sensitive pr oducts and were listed in  Annex 3 of ACE 24.  
ACE 24 had been broadened and am ended through eight additional pr otocols, which were still in WT/REG272/M/1 
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  force.  The sensitive products of Annex 3 had been subjected to a tariff elimination programme by the 
Administrative Commission in May 1997, as established in the Sixth Protocol of the ACE 24.  Of the 
506 excluded lines, only 180 lines remained dutiable in 2009 and these would become duty-free in 2012, while all the others had been liberalized befo re the conclusion of the Agreement.  Under ACE 
24, 90% of trade and 98% of tariff lines had been liberalized;  the remaining 2% - concerning meat, 
milk, rice, oil and sugar products - would become free of duties by 2012. 
5. The Agreement under consideration represen ted an important added-value to trade 
liberalization, providing for the development and upda te of disciplines within the framework of a free 
trade agreement for goods, services and investment s towards the creation of  a free trade area in 
conformity with GATT Article XXIV and GATS Ar ticle V.  ACE 24 had enabled the Parties to 
consolidate commercial exchanges and this had been reflected in Colombia's exports to Chile which 
had passed from US$117 million in 1994 to US$627 m illion in 2009, an increase of 436%.  Similarly, 
Colombia's imports from Chile had risen from US$113 million in 1994 to US$589 million in 2009, which had led to an increase in global trade from US$230 million in 1994 to US$1.2 billion in 2009.  
In this context, on 7 August 2006, on the occasi on of the visit from Chile's President Michelle 
Bachelet to the President of Colombia Alvaro Urib e, the Ministers of Trade of the Parties had been 
instructed to start negotiations for the consolidatio n of ACE 24 with the aim of concluding a free trade 
agreement.  The Agreement had entered into for ce on 8 May 2009 and represented one of the most 
comprehensive agreements in the region, includi ng disciplines on market access, trade in services, 
public procurement and investment.  The Agreemen t constituted an Additional Protocol to the ACE 
24;  it was signed on 27 November 2006 and included 22 chapters with respective annexes, including:  
market access for goods;  rules and procedures of origin;  trade facilitation;  sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures;  technical barriers to tr ade;  services;  public procurement;  and dispute 
settlement.  The Agreement resulted in deeper and more  fluid trade, investments and tourism.  In the 
period January-September 2010, exports had increa sed by 37% compared to same period in the 
previous year, passing from US$459 million to US$626 million.  In 2009, Chile was Colombia's 11
th 
source of foreign direct investment (FDI), mainly in sectors such as electricity, trade and industry, 
financial services, retail, etc.  In comparison, Chile was the 14th destination of Colombian FDI.  In 
tourism, 36,168 Chilean tourists visited Colombia in 2009, representing 3% of the total number of 
tourists in the country (1,353,700).  In comparison,  33,412 Colombians had visited Chile in 2009.  
The latest developments in the administration of the Agreement had taken place within the Free Trade 
Administrative Commission, which had met three tim es to date:  on 2 July 2009;  9 October 2009;  
and 7 May 2010.  Eight decisions had been ad opted and the following committees and working 
groups had been set up, in accordance with the Ag reement:  the Committee on Trade in Goods;  the 
Committee on Trade Facilitation;  the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;  the 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade;  and the Working Group on Professional Services.  She was ready to answer questions from Members either at the Meeting or in writing at a later stage. 
6. The representative of Chile
 thanked the Secretariat for the Factual Presentation and Members 
for their interest and questions.  He hoped the r esponses provided by the Parties helped clarify any 
doubt on the Agreement.  He also took the opportunity to recognise the work done in capital by the Parties' national authorities responsible for the administration of the Agreement and of the WTO 
Agreements, as well as delegations in Geneva for their efforts in coordinating the work on the 
presentation of the Agreement.  Chile attached gr eat importance to the Transparency Mechanism in 
the CRTA, a proof of which was the consideration by the Committee of ten RTAs concerning Chile.  
The Agreement reflected the constant search by Ch ile to strengthen bilate ral relations and move 
forward the integration process with neighbouring countries on the free movement of goods, services, 
capitals and persons.  The Agreement was signed on 27 November 2006 and had entered in force on 
8 May 2009, representing the Ninth Additional Protocol  to the ACE 24, in force since 1994.  Bilateral 
trade had substantially increased over the past d ecade, from US$246 million in 2000 to US$1.9 billion 
in 2009, with a peak of US$2.8 billion at the end of 2008.  He highlighted the fraternal and strong 
relationship of the Parties during the negotiations which had conclude d with an ambitious Agreement  WT/REG272/M/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  beneficial for both Parties.  As a result of the ne gotiations, more modern rules had been adopted on 
rules of origin, customs procedures, trade facilita tion, competition policy, sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures, technical barriers to trade, as well as di spute settlement procedures and cooperation.  At the 
same time, new disciplines had been introduced , namely on:  labour;  environment;  public 
procurement;  cross-border trade in services;  temporary entry of business persons;  electronic 
commerce;  and investment.  Under the Agreement,  the Parties had granted each other preferences on 
98% of tariff lines and, by 1 January 2012, 100% of  tariff lines would be duty-free.  The Agreement 
was the broadest and deepest between two Latin Am erican countries, meeting all the requirements to 
be considered as a last generation agreement in accordance with the princi ples of the WTO.  The 
Agreement sought to encourage and protect investment  in the territory of either Party providing for 
greater legal certainty to the Parties' investors a nd their investments;  at present Colombia represented 
Chile's fourth destination of FDI.  On servic es, clear, modern and transparent rules had been 
established together with the commitment not to incr ease restrictions in the Par ties' respective services 
markets. On government procurement, the Agreem ent allowed for new negotiations in goods and 
services, by establishing, among others, the principle of national treatment.  In addition, a new, 
modern and effective dispute settlement mechanis m offered certainty to commercial transactions.  
Similarly, the Administrative Commission and va rious committees had been set up to facilitate 
communications and avoid possible disputes. 
7. The representative of the United States  appreciated the work of the Parties and the Secretariat 
and thanked the Parties for their detailed presentatio n, including updates on cooperative efforts.  She 
commended the Parties for their commitments to very high levels of tariff elimination as part of the 
Agreement.  As indicated on pages 14-15 of the Factual Presentation, paragraphs 31 and 
32 specifically, at the end of the implementation peri od, Colombia would eliminate tariffs on 100% of 
tariff lines and imports from Chile.  For its part, Chile  would eliminate tariffs on 99.97% of tariffs and 
100% of imports from Colombia. 
8. The representative of the European Union  said that, as noted in paragraph 20 of the 
Factual Presentation, and pursuant to Article 22.8 of the Agreement, the Parties had committed to 
negotiate the chapter on financial services and the chapter on telecommunications, within two years 
and six months, respectively, from the entry into fo rce of the Agreement.  She asked the Parties to 
indicate whether they had already set a specifi c date for the start of such negotiations. 
9. The representative of Chile  replied that there was in the Ag reement a commitment to future 
negotiations, the "evolutionary clause", on financia l services and telecommunications;  however, to 
date, no deadline had been agreed to start such negotiations. 
10. The representative of the United States  said that Table V.2 on page 54 of the Factual 
Presentation listed a number of RTAs that had not been  notified by the Parties.  For each non-notified 
RTAs, she asked the Parties to explain if the agr eement was still in force and, if so, when they 
intended to notify it to the WTO. 
11. The representative of Colombia  replied that the agreement with the Northern Triangle (goods 
and services) had entered into force recently, afte r its ratification in accordance with Colombian 
legislation, and it was in the process of notifica tion to the WTO.  The other RTAs – with Cuba, 
CARICOM, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua – were partial scope agreements with limited 
coverage of liberalization, conc luded in the framework of the Montevideo Treaty of 1980 and the 
Latin America Integration Association (LAIA).   
12. The representative of Chile  confirmed that all non-notified RTAs in Table V.2 were in force.  
With respect to the agreements with Guatemala a nd Honduras, the most recent ones, the parties to 
such agreements were consulting on the form and opportunity of notifying them.  In relation to the WT/REG272/M/1 
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  partial scope agreements, all on g oods, negotiated under the Montevideo Treaty of 1980 and in the 
framework of LAIA, there had been some discussions on notifying them to the WTO. 
13. The representative of the United States
 appreciated the efforts by Colombia and Chile to 
answer questions on Table V.2 and non-notified RT As.  Her delegation's understanding was that some 
notifications had been drafted and she looked fo rward to receiving them.  With respect to the 
agreements negotiated under LAIA, she observed that  there were no information, as far as she knew, 
of the specific tariff lines that had been given pref erences in each of Colombia's and Chile's schedules 
under such agreements and, hence, Members did not ha ve any transparency with respect to them.  She 
said that third parties needed to have informati on on tariff preferences, where these were still in force 
and had not been superseded by subseq uent more comprehensive agreements. 
14. The representative of the European Union  said that partial scope agreements needed to be 
notified since they provided for tariff liberalizati on and urged the Parties to collaborate with other 
members that had partial scope agreements to notify them.  She hoped these agreements would be 
notified to the WTO soon in order to improve th e level of transparency.  Also, she asked which 
agreements were still into force and what preferences were applied.    
15. The representative of Chile , together with the delegation of Colombia, took note of the 
concerns expressed by Members on the notification and transparency issues.   These issues had been 
discussed within LAIA, and they committed to con tinue such discussions in order to grant the 
necessary transparency to the liberalization process. 
16. The Chairman  said that the consideration of the goods and services aspects of the Free Trade 
Agreement between the Colombia and Chile had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of 
questions and oral discussion of the Agreement coul d 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 the Secretariat by 7 December 2010  and the Parties were 
asked to submit replies  in writing by no later than 21 Decembe r 2010.  In accordance with paragraph 
13 of the Transparency Mechanism all written subm issions, 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. 
17. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
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