EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 11.10.2022 SWD(2022) 730 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Individual information sheets on implementation of EU Trade Agreements



















Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

on Implementation and Enforcement of EU Trade Agreements









































{COM(2022) 730 final}



Contents EU TRADE AGREEMENTS COVERED BY THIS STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EU TRADE AGREEMENTS COVERED BY THIS STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT PART I: ASIA ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND VIETNAM 1. THE AGREEMENTS 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES AND SINGAPORE 1. THE AGREEMENTS 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND JAPAN 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-SOUTH KOREA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING PART II: THE AMERICAS ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-CANADA COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC AND TRADE AGREEMENT (CETA)

1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-COLOMBIA/ECUADOR/PERU TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING AND SPECIFIC AREAS OF IMPORTANCE ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PART IV OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES AND CENTRAL AMERICA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING AND SPECIFIC AREAS OF IMPORTANCE ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND CHILE 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. ACTIVITIES OF SPECIFIC MONITORING AND RELEVANCE IN 2021 ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-MEXICO ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES PART III: EU NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ALGERIA 1. THE AGREEMENT

2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-EGYPT ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND LEBANON 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND JORDAN 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. ACTIVITIES OF SPECIFIC INTEREST ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND MOROCCO 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND TUNISIA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERIM ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND PALESTINE 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ISRAEL 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE AREA BETWEEN THE EU AND UKRAINE 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE AREA BETWEEN THE EU AND GEORGIA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. MONITORING IN SPECIFIC AREAS ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE AREA BETWEEN THE EU AND MOLDOVA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 3. MONITORING IN SPECIFIC AREAS ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-KOSOVO* STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-SERBIA STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON IMPLEMENTATION OF the trade pillar of the EU-MONTENEGRO STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-ALBANIA STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND NORTH MACEDONIA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-UNITED KINGDOM TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-SWITZERLAND TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENTS 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-NORWAY TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT

2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-TURKEY CUSTOMS UNION AND TRADE AGREEMENTS 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES PART IV: AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC COUNTRIES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND GHANA 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC) 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND COTE D’IVOIRE 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND CAMEROON 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION (ESA) 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND CARIFORUM 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) BETWEEN THE EU AND PACIFIC STATES 1. THE AGREEMENT 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Annex SECTION IV of the Report: adressing barriers and finding solutions



This Staff Working Document (SWD) contains additional information (country information sheets) on 38 individual EU trade agreements, complementing section II of the Report on Implementation and Enforcement of EU trade agreements (“the report”), called “Making full use of the opportunities provided by EU trade agreements. Its annex has a list of new barriers reported and barriers resolved in 2021 completing section IV of the report, called “Addressing trade barriers and finding solutions”. For the following information please consult the website of the Commission /DG TRADE: - Agendas and reports of meetings of the institutional bodies (FTA committees and working groups, dialogues) as well as information on agenda and reports of civil society forum meetings; - General statistics (regularly updated) on trade in goods and services and on foreign direct investment for all EU trading partner countries; The Commission/DG TRADE’s Implementation & Enforcement wegpage has the following information, which is made available together with the annual report and staff working document: - Statistics on trade in goods and services and on foreign direct investment between the EU and preferential trading partner countries (These are compiled for the annual report, based on Eurostat data for the EU27 as they stand in March 2022. NB: The latest statistics for trade in goods are for 2021, for trade in services and investment for 2020, except where indicated otherwise); - Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) for the EU and preferential partner countries’ fill rates in 2021; - Preference utilisation rates (PURs) on EU imports for partner countries as well as PURs on EU exports to the preferential partners, who shared the information, together with an explanation of the sources and methodology. They are updated once a year, in the fall. NB. Figures for preference use on EU imports and EU exports are based on different datasets from distinct sources. Preference utilisation rates on imports use Eurostat figures and are harmonised. Preference utilisation rates on EU exports use data submitted by EU trading partners’ customs authorities, which apply different methods and practices: the data are therefore not harmonised and not comparable.





EU TRADE AGREEMENTS COVERED BY this Staff Working Document (Agreement/date of application) PART I: ASIA EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement 1 August 2020 EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement 21 September 2019 EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement 1 February 2019 EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement 1 July 2011 PART II: THE AMERICAS EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement 21 September 2017 EU-Colombia-Peru-Ecuador Trade Agreement 1 March 2013 for Peru; 1 August 2013 for Colombia; 1 January 2017 for Ecuador. EU-Central America Association Agreement 1 August 2013: trade pillar applies with Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama; 1 October 2013: Costa Rica and El Salvador; 1 December 2013: Guatemala. EU-Chile Association Agreement 1 February 2003 EU-Mexico Global Agreement Applied for goods since 1 July 2000; applied for services since 1 March 2001. PART III: EU NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES Mediterranean and Middle East countries - Free Trade Areas EU-Algeria 1 September 2005 EU-Egypt 21 December 2003 EU-Lebanon 1 March 2003 EU-Jordan 1 May 2002 EU-Morocco 18 March 2000 EU-Tunisia 1 March 1998 EU-Palestine 1 July 1997 EU-Israel 1 January 1996 Eastern countries – Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas EU-Ukraine 1 January 2016, and entered into force on 1 September 2017. EU-Georgia 1 September 2014, and entered into force on 1 July 2016. EU-Moldova 1 September 2014, and entered into force on 1 July 2016.



EU TRADE AGREEMENTS COVERED BY this Staff Working Document (Agreement /date of application) Western Balkans – Stabilisation and Association Agreements EU-Kosovo* 1 April 2016 EU-Serbia Interim Agreement on trade for Serbia: 1 February 2009; for the EU: 8 December 2009 EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Interim Agreement on trade 1 July 2008 EU-Montenegro Interim Agreement on trade1 January 2008 EU-Albania Interim Agreement on trade 1 December 2006 EU-North Macedonia Interim Agreement on trade 1 June 2001 United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey EU-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement 1972 EU-Norway Free Trade Agreement 1 July 1973 EU-Turkey Customs Union Association Agreement signed in 1963; final phase of the customs union completed on 1 January 1996. EU-United Kingdom Trade and Cooperation Agreement 1 January 2021 PART IV: AFRICA, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC – Economic Partnership Agreements EU-Ghana (interim) 15 December 2016 EU-Southern African Development Community (SADC) 10 October 2016 for Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa; 4 February 2018 for Mozambique. EU-Cote d’Ivoire (interim) 3 September 2016 EU-Central Africa (Cameroon) 4 August 2014 for Cameroon EU-Eastern and Southern African States (interim) 14 May 2012 for Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe; for Comoros since 7 February 2019 EU-Pacific countries (interim) 20 December 2009 for Papua New Guinea; 28 July 2014 for Fiji, 31 December 2018 for Samoa and 17 May 2020 for Solomon Islands. EU-CARIFORUM 29 December 2008 for Antigua & Barbuda; Belize; Bahamas; Barbados; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; St. Vincent & the Grenadines; Suriname; and Trinidad & Tobago.

PART I: ASIA



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND VIETNAM 1. THE AGREEMENTS The economic partnership between the EU and Vietnam comprises two distinct agreements, namely a free trade agreement and an investment protection agreement. Negotiations began in 2012 and were finalized in December 2015 on a single text covering both agreements. In 2018, the EU and Vietnam decided to split the initial single agreement into a trade agreement and an investment protection agreement, respectively. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was signed on 30 June 2019 and entered into force on 1 August 2020. It sets out the rules accompanying trade liberalization between the EU and Vietnam. The Agreement establishes a free trade area between the Union and Vietnam. Its objectives are to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment between the Parties under the Agreement, in a manner mindful of high levels of environmental and labour protection and relevant internationally recognised standards and agreements. The EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement was signed on 30 June 2019. The agreement, already ratified by Vietnam and by the European Parliament, will enter into force once ratified by all 27 EU Member States. The EU-Vietnam Investment Agreement sets out rules that give EU investors and their investments in Vietnam a high level of protection, while safeguarding EU governments' rights to pass new laws and update existing ones. It will replace and upgrade bilateral investment treaties that several Member States currently have in place with Vietnam. Once ratified, the Investment Protection Agreement will replace investor-to-state dispute settlement. There is an important presence of EU companies in Vietnam. In 2021, EU-Vietnam bilateral trade flows increased to €49.1 billion from 43.2 billion in 2020. Vietnam was the EU's largest partner for imports of goods among ASEAN countries in 2021 (Vietnam’s exports to the EU, rose from €34.5 billion in 2020 to €38.5 billion in 2021. Vietnam is an important regional economic actor and is part of a number of bilateral and major regional trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Though hit by the health pandemic, its GDP grew by 2.9 % in 2020 and by 2.6% in 2021, showing a remarkable resilience. 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues Since 1 August 2020, the EU and Vietnam have held regular informal meetings and convened the specialized committees and working groups established by the EVFTA. The first ministerial Trade Committee was held on 19 July 2021. 2021 saw the launch of an EU project to improve the ability of EU Businesses (notably SMEs) to increase their trade and investment in Vietnam by providing practical information on how to make the most of the EVFTA. The online guide to EU SME on Vietnam trade and investment was launched in March 2022. On specific market access issues, substantial progress was achieved on SPS-related issues, leading to a simplification and acceleration of clearance procedures by Vietnam for authorizing imports from approved EU Member States’ establishments (so called “pre-listing”). As a result, EU market access for animal products increased for various EU member states. Work also continued over the reporting period to reduce the important backlog Vietnam has on Member States’ general applications for exports of animal products and plant products to Vietnam, as well as to amend the protocol on rules of origin, for which Vietnam’s internal procedures and decision making are lengthy. In addition, in the area of pharmaceuticals, progress was achieved on market access for EU pharmaceutical products: thanks to EU Delegation’s intense engagement with Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi, on 30 December 2021 Vietnam decided to extend the validity of marketing authorizations until 31 December 2022 with the aim of ensuring continuity to international pharmaceutical businesses. Furthermore, Vietnam, from the entry into force of the Agreement, has implemented its commitments to protect 169 EU GIs and took further steps to codify its EVFTA commitments, by reflecting them in its domestic legislation. There are however still important unresolved issues:

In the pharmaceutical sector, Vietnam continues to apply discriminatory and cumbersome rules to medicinal products discriminating among EU member states’ regulatory authorities. Vietnam’s legislation on the extension of the validity of marketing authorizations still remains to be properly implemented: The EU contributed to Vietnam’s public consultations concerning ongoing amendments to the relevant legislation and has regularly raised concern at technical and political level. Pending the completion of the ongoing revision of Vietnam’s IPR legislation, which is due in mid-2022, the EU main areas of concern continue to relate to the presence of counterfeit goods (online and in physical marketplaces), deficient enforcement of domestic IPR regulations, lack of ex-officio actions and efficient customs controls. The EU has continued the discussions with Vietnamese counterparts and is hopeful that over 134 legislative changes to the current IPR laws, including providing customs the power to act ex officio on presumed counterfeit imports from neighbouring countries, will be promulgated in 2022.



2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues Vietnam over the reporting period 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, has reported delays to complete its labour reforms, in particular in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining, key obligations under EVFTA. The 2019 Labour Code contains provisions on independent workers representative organisations at enterprise level. Such provisions should be translated into implementing decrees. These decrees are currently still undergoing technical consultations with the relevant ministries despite the earlier commitment of Vietnam to enact them by end of 2020. The EU has expressed concerns over delays in establishing independent Workers Representative Organisations in Vietnam. On the basis of relevant reports from the ILO supervisory committees and other sources, the EU closely monitors developments in Vietnam regarding for freedom of expression and assembly that are integral parts of freedom of association. By 1 January 2021, Vietnam had also ratified and participated in 25 ILO Conventions including seven out of the eight fundamental Conventions. Vietnam is one of the leading countries when it comes to the ratification of ILO Core Conventions. The last fundamental ILO convention, i.e. C.87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection, awaits to be ratified in 2023 fully in line with the promise by Vietnam, and agreed by the European Parliament, at the EVFTA ratification. The EU encouraged Vietnam to elaborate a plan outlining the concrete steps towards ratification of ILO convention Nr. 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Vietnam’s National Programme of Action on the elimination of Child Labour is now approved at national level and work is focusing on implementation at the regional level. A recent report showed considerable progress in this area during pre-pandemic period, while there are still more than 1 million children in child labour, more than half of them in hazardous works. Vietnam has committed to eliminate child labour by 2025 in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal 8.7. However, the recent National Action Programme aims at a child labour rate of still more than 4 percent by 2030 after 5.4 percent in 2018. The Commission has also raised with Vietnam the issue of alleged forced labour cases in drug detention centres, issues monitored by ILO under Convention 105 on the Abolition of forced labour. Vietnam established establishment a Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) in the fall of 2021 and, following the DAG establishment, the TSD Committee and the Joint Forum had a constructive first meeting in November 2021 – where Vietnam allowed many observers (beyond the actually DAG members) to participate. On 30 December 2021, Vietnam also followed up on its promise to broaden the membership of its DAG, whose members have been increased from three to six, though assumingly no independent workers’ organisation is a member yet.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES AND SINGAPORE 1.THE AGREEMENTS The economic partnership between the EU and Singapore is made up of two distinct agreements, namely a free trade agreement (EUSFTA) and an investment protection agreement. Negotiations began in 2009, with negotiations for the trade agreement and the investment protection agreement being completed in 2012 and 2017, respectively. The trade agreement entered into force on 21 November 2019, and the investment agreement will enter into force once ratified by the EU Member States. These are the first agreements on trade and investment the EU ever concluded with an ASEAN Member State. Singapore is an important regional economic actor, and is part of a number of major regional trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Singapore’s membership of ASEAN also gives it notable political as well as economic influence in the South East Asia region. Singapore was the largest ASEAN destination for EU exports of goods in 2021: EU exports to Singapore increased by 13% (from €24.1 billion in 2020 to €27.2 billion in 2021). EU-Singapore trade in goods increased by 4.5% in 2021. Singapore is the EU’s largest trade and investment partner in South East Asia, ranking as the EU’s 5th largest trade partner for services globally and 7th largest FDI destination (in 202, latest figures available).

The EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements contribute to solidifying the EU’s presence in the region. The agreements offer new opportunities for EU companies to expand into other South East Asian markets, as they provide them with more opportunities and stronger protection to do business in Singapore, which is the central hub in South East Asia. At the first inaugural trade committee meeting under the EUSFTA the EU and Singapore agreed to strengthen their bilateral partnership on digital trade, in view of their joint vision to work towards a digital and green economic recover. EU and Singapore officials were tasked to start technical discussions to identify the relevant digital trade elements.



2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues During the second year of implementation of the EUSFTA, progress was made by Singapore in the implementation of its commitments within the Chapter on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): ·In November 2021, Singapore adopted a new Copyright Bill, which provides a right to a single equitable remuneration for the producers of phonograms where their commercially published phonograms are used for broadcasting or public performance. ·In December 2021, new GIs were registered in Singapore. On 14 December 2021, the Commission adopted a Decision approving, on behalf of the EU, amendments to Annexes 10-A and 10-B to the EUSFTA, to reflect the registration of new EU GIs in Singapore. This Decision was adopted by the EUSFTA Trade Committee on 19 April 2022. ·Finally, within the IPR Chapter, Singapore also committed to introduce border measures against counterfeit GI goods, no later than three years after the entry into force of the EUSFTA. This legislative change is expected to be enacted by Singapore by the end of 2022. 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues The first EUSFTA Trade and Sustainable Development Board meeting took place in November 2020. The next meeting will likely take place in 2022. On the occasion of the first EU-Singapore EUSFTA Trade Committee, which took place on 8 December 2021, the EU has raised vis-à-vis Singapore the need to breach the gaps between Singapore’s labour legislation and the three ILO fundamental conventions mentioned above These are convention No. 111 (elimination of discrimination of work), Convention 87 (freedom of association) regarding the rights for higher public official to join trade unions and convention on forced labour (No. 105).



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND JAPAN 1. THE AGREEMENT The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (“the EU-Japan EPA”; hereinafter “the Agreement”) entered into force on 1 February 2019. It is one of the most ambitious trade agreements concluded by the EU so far, providing for broad-based trade liberalisation coupled with rules and disciplines on aspects such as labour rights, environmental protection, antitrust, corporate governance and the commercial activities of state-owned enterprises, among other topics. The agreement thus pursues and develops the EU’s strive towards comprehensive trade agreements, and it provides a sound basis for the development of economic relations between the Parties. The agreement is particularly important for the EU agri-food sector, offering huge potential for increasing EU exports of a large number of products, such as wine, pork, beef, cheeses and processed agricultural products. One noticeable achievement is the step by step approval and recognition of oenological practices of the other Party as well as the provisions on the protection of geographical indications –two areas in which there was very significant progress during the reporting period. 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues The first three years of EPA implementation have been overall satisfactory. Bilateral trade is quickly recovering from the Covid-19 crisis and trade flows are returning to the pre-pandemic levels.

In 2021 implementation activities brought positive outcomes for the protection of GIs and certain TRQs. On –GIs, the Joint Committee decided to add 28 additional EU GIs, and 28 Japanese GIs to the list of GIs protected under the Agreement. This was the second such extension of the GI list, and the EU and Japan are currently working towards a third one. Moreover, in order to increase the use by EU operators of the soft cheese as well as malt TRQs, Japan introduced substantive amendments to those TRQs management procedures. As a result, it is expected that the use of the soft cheese quota will reach 90% in FY 2021. The Commission continues to monitor the fill rate and management of TRQs under the Agreement. Limited progress was further observed in the areas of government procurement, including through the adoption by Japan of circulars that set deadlines for procuring entities to ensure the publication of tender notices on the website of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation which is Japan’s “single point of access”). Those circulars do not, however, fully address EU’s concerns regarding timely publication of all tender notices falling under the EPA or GPA in Japan’s “single point of access”. Therefore, a systemic solution - through for example a specific IT tool ensuring the automatic and immediate publication of all tenders – is needed. Some valuable results were also achieved on offshore wind power, as Japan removed the discriminatory provisions in its tendering guidelines. There are, however, additional concerns linked to regulatory aspects and cabotage, which require continuing and even enhancing technical discussions with Japan. Finally, in 2021 no meaningful progress was reached with regard to Japan’s overly complicated and lengthy market access approval procedures for certain EU agri-food products (fresh fruits and vegetables, meat from some Member States). In order to address this issue, Japan needs to recognise the EU as a single entity as set out in the EPA. This would allow Japan to simplify its lengthy and duplicative assessments conducted for each EU Member State individually, in spite of a common framework of SPS rules in the EU. 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues The Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development met (virtually) on 25-26 January 2022 and saw a rich exchange of information and review activities in the various areas covered by the TSD chapter, including on cross-cutting issues such as the TSD review process, with a focus on the role and function of DAGs but also the implementation of sustainability provisions in trade agreements of Japan as well as new EU initiatives in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility/Responsible Business Conduct (CSR/RBC). Furthermore, the EU presented recent developments on its environmental policies, notably the initiatives adopted by the in the framework of the Circular Economy package, as well as the proposal for a Revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation. Building on the recent collaboration in the area of plastics policy, the EU proposed a technical dialogue with a focus on product requirements for circularity by design. Building on the update on the EU Forest Strategy, the EU and Japan are considering the possibility to hold a follow-up technical-level meeting on the EU proposal for a regulation to curb deforestation and forest degradation. The Parties also updated each other on the respective policy developments on climate change, including the Japan-EU Green Alliance. In relation to the cooperation in multilateral fora, the Parties discussed the Methane Initiative, the Deforestation Initiative, and indicated their openness to cooperate to achieve further progress toward COP27. The EU and Japan also jointly played a key role in generating momentum towards the December 2021 ministerial statements on environment in the WTO. At the TSD Committee they stressed the positive contribution that bilateral discussions on trade and climate can bring to the multilateral processes, making specific reference to the joint event of June 2021 on Trade and Industry towards Climate Neutrality. Further work may involve cooperation on the development of standards and certification framework for the international trade for hydrogen. In terms of trade and labour, the TSD Committee exchanged views on Japan’s efforts on the ratification of the ILO C105 on forced labour, which was followed by the transmission from the Japanese government to the International Labour Office of the draft ratification instrument on 19 July 2022. The EU and Japan also exchanged on their laws and practices regarding prohibition of discrimination in employment. The Joint Dialogue with Civil Society was held on 27 January 2022. It provided an opportunity for active and engaged discussions between civil society representatives of both sides on all issues relating to Trade and Sustainable Development. Considering the level of interest in the exchanges, the members of the DAGs of each side agreed to explore the possibility to hold a follow up bilateral meeting to further explore topics of interests, among these i) Industry perspectives to deliver inclusive economic growth; ii) transition towards a carbon neutral economy (basically CBAM, EU taxonomy and Sustainable Finance) and iii) Sustainable Forest and Land Use. The EU DAG has proposed a further follow up meeting on the ratification and implementation of the ILO Conventions by the EU and Japan. Last but not least, in 2021, Japan and the EU finalised the technical work on the ad-hoc TSD rules of procedure and on the establishment of the panel of experts. The formal adoption of the decision is expected in the course of 2022.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-SOUTH KOREA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT The Free Trade Agreement between the EU and its Member States and the Republic of South Korea (in this report referred to as “the EU-South Korea FTA”) has been provisionally applied since July 2011. On 13 December 2015 it entered formally into force after ratification by EU Member States. The Additional Protocol to the FTA, to take into account the accession of Croatia to the EU, has been provisionally applied since 26 May 2014 and it entered into force on 1 January 2016.

The EU- South Korea FTA is the first of a new generation of comprehensive trade agreements which, apart from market opening commitments also offers a basis for regulatory co-operation in key sectors as well as a substantial chapter on sustainable development with binding provisions upholding and promoting social and environmental standards. 2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues Despite the difficulties brought by the pandemic, both sides continued working constructively on the implementation of the agreement and a number of FTA working groups and committees took place in the second half of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Progress was made in implementing the EU –South Korea FTA in a number of areas: ·Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures: As a result of intense high-level engagement between the European Commission and the Republic of Korea, EU countries can, as of 5 September 2022, export pork and poultry to the Republic of Korea more easily. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Korea (MAFRA) has decided to remove a longstanding trade barrier, which affected EU exports of pork and poultry products, as the Republic of Korea now recognises the EU's stringent regionalisation measures to control outbreaks of African swine fever and the highly pathogenic avian influenza. This decision could unlock over one billion euros of trade in the next years. ·The parties continued technical work to reflect technological and regulatory developments in the car sector, to facilitate trade by cutting red tape: In addition to the adoption of an administrative amendment to the car sector annex 2-C at the Trade Committee meeting in 2021, both sides continued technical exchanges to explore potential new amendments to annex 2-C with a view to reflect further technological and regulatory developments in the automotive sector. These new amendments once implemented would further the acceptance of automotive products by the competent approval authorities on both sides and would enable businesses to save additional costs for testing and certification. ·In the machinery sector an important trade barrier was further removed in 2021 has been which concerned lengthy and cumbersome processes for Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) – an equipment to stabilize vessels in environmentally friendly ways. In October 2019, the EU submitted its claim to the WTO TBT committee and discussed the issue with Japan bilaterally at the February 2020 meeting of the Trade in Goods Committee under the FTA. Finally in October 2021, the Korean administration issued all the necessary certificates for the ballast water treatment application, allowing EU BWMS to access the Korean market. ·In the area of IPR protection, following the agreement in principle at the April 2021 Trade Committee to include additional 84 EU and Korean names in the list of 226 geographical indications (GIs) already protected, exchanges on the draft Trade Committee decision on the amendment of the GI Annexes continued in 2021 and early 2022 with the aim to finalize the necessary domestic procedures on both sides as soon as possible. ·Last but not least, the Commission services and the Korean authorities further continued technical cooperation on e-certification and harmonisation of health certificates to further facilitate trade of several processed agri-food products. However, there are also a number of outstanding issues EU business is confronting in South Korea and on which the Commission has been focusing in 2021: Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures: The lack of access of EU beef to the South Korean market, which has been closed to EU imports since early 2000s, remains a concern. In 2019, South Korea approved the application of two Member States (Denmark and The Netherlands), who can export beef to Korea, however other Member States are still waiting for the finalisation of their approval process. Sector of offshore wind energy: This is a sector, which has seen a surge in new market access barriers (e.g. new regulation on local content requirements adopted in December 2021 and potentially other barriers in the implementation of the current legislation), following the announcement by the government of its long-term energy transition plan (2020- 2034) to deliver 40% renewable energy generation by 2034. Key issues identified currently include local content requirements, public procurement, certification/standards and price-setting transparency. Moreover, complex environmental impact assessments are delaying licensing processes, and social acceptance issues are obstacles to the emergence of wind power plants. There are more than 50 EU companies present in Korea who are involved in aspects of the offshore wind business including the largest wind power developers and manufacturers of turbines, small businesses, one-man businesses and consultancies, and certification companies. Reacting to these developments as a first step, the EU Delegation- together with seven Member States (BE, DE, DK, ES, FR, IT, NL) -established a Task Force to identify and map technical obstacles for EU players aiming to enter the Offshore Korean Market. Following the release by the Korean Ministry for Trade, Industry and Energy (MoTIE) of new rules on Local Content Requirement (LCR) for the offshore market in December 2021, the EU Ambassador sent a letter to Trade Minister. MoTIE. This led to discussions at the Trade in Goods Committee under the FTA as well as an informal working-level technical meeting in March 2022, followed by a written exchange on legal and technical questions. In addition, MOTIE informed that EU stakeholders have a new opportunity to express their views by sending their comments through the Korean Wind Energy Industry Association by 29 April. The Commission (EU DEL with help of MS, continues engaging with South Korea at various levels to raise its concerns and to get the local content requirements removed.



EU beef exports to Korea

Finally, the lack of access of EU beef to the South Korean market, which has been closed to EU imports since early 2000s, remains a concern. In 2019, South Korea approved the application of two Member States (Denmark and The Netherlands), who can export beef to Korea, however other Member States are still waiting for the finalisation of their approval process. 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues Over the reporting period, the main advances relate to the implementation by Korea of the Panel of Experts’ report of January 2021 in the bilateral labour dispute launched by the EU under the TSD Chapter of the EU-South Korea FTA. In April 2022, as a follow-up to the dispute settlement process, the ratification process of three fundamental ILO Conventions was completed with their entry into force in Korea: Conventions No 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining and No 29 on Forced Labour. Following the TSD committee and technical meetings in April 2021, the amendments in the Korean Trade Union Act required to conform with the Panel report entered into force in July 2021. In November 2021, EU and Korea held an interim TSD committee meeting to assess the implementation of those amendments (as well as their implementing guidelines). Concerning the labour amendments, discussions mainly revolved around the possibility for dismissed and unemployed workers to join trade unions, the eligibility of trade union officials, the access of self-employed workers to trade unions and the certification procedure for trade unions in Korea. The Parties agreed to continue monitoring the application of the Panel of Experts’ report and continue discussions at the next TSD committee, to be held in the last quarter of 2022. The interim TSD committee meeting also examined progress towards the ratification of fundamental ILO Convention No 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labour. Concerning the latter, South Korea confirmed its commitment to continue its sustained efforts towards the ratification, and indicated that a research project to identify any inconsistent domestic legislation would soon be finalised. A dedicated technical meeting was held in March 2022 to review the initial results of that research project. The meeting identified a number of legal incompatibilities that would need to be addressed before Korea may ratify this Convention, in particular in connection with prison labour and with criminal prosecution of labour-related activities. The research project was published in May 2022 and further discussions are planned to take place on this matter at the next CTSD.



3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING In line with Article 14 of the FTA Protocol on Rules of Origin, South Korea’s imports of key car parts and electronics from the most important suppliers (outside the EU) have been monitored. Like in previous years, China and Japan remain the largest car parts suppliers. Japan still pays full duty on car parts while China benefits from tariff reduction (within the South Korea-China agreement most car parts will be liberalised in 10 or 15 years). Within the RCEP, South Korea excludes from liberalisation the key car parts such as engines, Lithium-ion batteries, a large number of car parts of 8708 for both Japan and China). The import pattern has not fundamentally changed since the EU-South Korea FTA has been signed and there has been no significant increase in imports of car components and key electronics from the largest suppliers into South Korea in 2021 compared to 2020. Korea’s imports of combustion (gasoline and diesel) engines and parts for engines (HS 8407, 8408 and 8409) slightly increased in 2021 compared to 2020 (+8%), as well as the imports of core car parts (HS 8708) (+11%). The EU remains the largest supplier of diesel engines (HS 8408) and an important supplier of parts and accessories of the motor vehicles (HS 8708). In 2021, Korea’s imports of lithium-ion batteries mainly from China (HS 870560) has significantly increased to $ 3.3 billion (+105 %) but those imports remain below Korea’s exports of lithium-ion batteries ($5.8 billion). Based on these trade statistics, it is not possible to establish a link between the allowance of duty drawback and the increase in EU imports of cars (+29%) from South Korea.





PART II: THE AMERICAS



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-CANADA COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC AND TRADE AGREEMENT (CETA) 1. THE AGREEMENT The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”; herinafter ‘the Agreement’) has been provisionally applied since 21 September 2017 and 2021 was its fourth year of application. The Agreement will fully enter into force once all Member States have ratified it. At the second meeting of the CETA Joint Committee on 25 March 2021 the Parties reviewed the implementation of the Agreement in various areas, took note of the positive evolution of EU-Canada trade flows, which have increased by almost 12% since CETA’s entry into force and had an exchange of views on a number of issues related to joint work between the EU and Canada under CETA (see also further below). On 14 June 2021, at the EU-Canada Summit, EU and Canada leaders launched a series of joint events to promote sustainability, environmental stewardship and climate action in agriculture, within the framework of the Agriculture Dialogue under CETA. The series of events started with an EU-Canada workshop on soil health on 26 October 2021, the second one held on 10 March 2022 concerned reduction of GHG emissions in the livestock sector and the third one held on 8 June 2022 on organic production. During the Summit, the EU and Canada also established the EU-Canada Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials, with a view to diversifying sources of important green and digital economy inputs away from less like-minded producers and foster competitive EU-Canada supply chains. To mark the occasion of CETA’s fourth anniversary on 21 September 2021, DG TRADE and EUCCAN (the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Canada) co-hosted an event dedicated to SMEs’. 90 participants attended, including European SMEs, stakeholders and national authorities. 2 EU companies gave testimony on how CETA helped them in finding their parts to the Canadian market. The trade policy roundtable was followed by a workshop with presentations of all practical tools developed by the Commission for European companies (e.g. Access2Markets, ROSA, Access2Procurement Tool) as well as of the services offered by EEN (Enterprise Europe Network) and ETPOA (European Trade Promotion Organisations Association) to help European companies to internationalise.



2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues Progress was made in 2021 and early 2022 in the area of services professional services: At the 2nd meeting of the CETA Joint Committee on 25 March 2021, the EU and Canada launched negotiations for a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) concerning the professional qualifications of architects. On 10 March 2022, negotiations were concluded. The conclusion of the negotiations paves the way for the adoption of the MRA, which, once in force, will remove most of the bureaucratic obstacles for EU architects seeking to provide their services in Canada, and vice-versa, allowing them to work almost as freely as they would at home. Thanks to the MRA, architects meeting certain qualification- and experience-based criteria will have their qualifications recognised by the relevant European and Canadian authorities. Both EU and Canadian architects will have to register with the local authorities to get permission to exercise their profession, while EU architects in Canada will additionally have to complete a one-off 10-hour course. The MRA should in principle come into effect in early 2023. This MRA is the first of its kind, which the EU has ever negotiated with a third country. In 2021, progress was also made in removing certain discriminatory measures for wines and spirits maintained at federal and provincial level, which the EU continues to raise with Canada: ·For example, Ontario and Quebec reduced the cost-of-service differential fees applied to EU products, based on the results of audits carried out in 2019-2020 at the EU’s request. ·Canada took steps to eliminate the discriminatory aspect of the federal excise duty (exemption for local wines). The exemption was effectively removed on 30 June 2022. ·There is also an announced path towards compliance by provinces (Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia) to remove certain discriminatory measures on wines (by mid-2023, end 2023 and mid-2024 respectively).

In 2021, one additional EU food GI was registered directly in Canada (Piadina Romagnola/Piada Romagnola). The EU and Canada also consider amending the annexes of the 2003 Agreement between the European Community and Canada on trade in Wines and Spirits Drinks, incorporated into CETA, with regard to geographical indications (GIs) and oenological practices. This amendment will, for example, add EU wine and spirits GIs to the relevant annexes, if they accomplish the relevant registration procedures by 28 February 2023. This could include in particular GIs from Member States that joined the EU after 2003, which therefore are not listed in the annexes. In 2021, progress was also made on SPS measures, as the work on the harmonisation of EU export certificates continued, with priorities put forward by both sides: ·At the end of 2021, after several years of negotiation, Canada accepted an EU harmonised certificate for poultry meat allowing for further trade facilitation of exports from authorised EU Member States. ·In 2021 France received authorisation to export grapevine plants to Canada. In 2021, the CETA cheese TRQ that Canada grants to the EU was filled at 98%. Nevertheless, the EU continued to raise its concerns with the administration of this CETA TRQ and called upon Canada to introduce improvements in the context of its comprehensive TRQ review. At the same time, several SPS issues are still outstanding and continue to be discussed with Canada: ·While 21 EU Member States are already recognised by Canada to be free of Asian and Citrus longhorned beetles, Canada has been requesting more information to additionally recognise as pest free areas the other six EU Member States affected with these pests. The EU continues to discuss also the possibility to export to Canada fresh tomato with vines, stems, and calyces as well as cherries and berries from Spain. ·The EU side made efforts to obtain approval of exports of meat/poultry from EU Member States that are not yet recognised by Canada for these products. ·The Commission decided to organise a follow-up audit in Canada in 2022 to make sure that all recommendations of the previous audit of production of pig and bovine meat have been followed up with concrete actions on the ground. 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues At the fourth annual meeting of the CETA Trade and Sustainable Development Committee, which took place on 9 and 10 February 2022, the EU and Canada discussed a number of implementation issues, notably: ·the CETA Trade and Gender Recommendation, noting good progress, in line with the Trade and Gender work plan, on exchanges and events aimed at sharing information on policies, laws and best practices on a range of issues, notably on the development of gender-relevant standards; ·Trade and labour issues and future cooperation on a number of policy areas, including combatting forced and child labour in global supply chains. Both sides highlighted their support to the International Labour Organization (ILO), their close collaboration in the ILO work and support to ILO’s technical assistance projects, including in promoting global ratification of the ILO conventions, notably Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment. They also reaffirmed their commitment to further coordinate efforts to address forced labour in multilateral fora, in particular at the OECD and the G7; ·The EU and Canada exchanged views on topics such as energy transition, climate adaptation and greening of supply chains. They also exchanged on recent developments on climate change and environment policy, agreeing to explore future cooperation in these areas: o They acknowledged the successful CleanTech Workshop held virtually in March 2021(leading to the delivery of the Canada-EU CleanTech Summit later in 2022) and the expert exchange on the impacts of trade on biodiversity held in January 2022. oDiscussions also covered a number of ongoing cooperation initiatives including on carbon pricing and border carbon adjustments, biodiversity, plastic pollution and circular economy, and chemicals management; ·Finally, the EU and Canada took note of the ongoing work on the review of the EU 15-point Action Plan on TSD, with the publication of the expert study taking place on the second day of the CETA TSD Committee meeting and further work on the EU side needed to analyse the study results and integrate them in the review. In line with previous CETA TSD Committee meetings, the Committee was joined by the Chairs of the Canadian and the EU Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) under CETA and welcomed their feedback and suggestions for collaboration under the CETA TSD chapters. The EU and Canadian CETA DAGs had their fourth joint meeting a few days before the meeting of the CETA Trade and Sustainable Development Committee: ·At the meeting, the Canadian DAGs provided updates on the implementation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and first cases; ·EU DAGs updated on the consultation process in the EU on the review of the TSD chapters of CETA;

·The DAGs also held a debate on the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on supply chains from the perspectives of forced labour/sustainable development/labour rights/environment. The 4th CETA Civil Society Forum met before the CETA TSD Committee, with more than 150 registered participants from across the EU and Canada from business, social partners, environmental organizations and other civil society representatives. Four thematic sessions explored the following topics: (i) Trade and Environment / Trade and Climate Change; (ii) EU-Canada Cooperation on Labour; (iii) Developments in the field of Trade and Sustainable Development, Trade and Labour and Trade and Environment – Policy, Implementation, Enforcement; and (iv) CETA recommendations on SMEs and Trade and Gender.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU-COLOMBIA/ECUADOR/PERU TRADE AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT The Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru (hereinafter the ‘Agreement’) has been provisionally applied with Peru since 1 March 2013 and with Colombia since 1 August 2013. Negotiations on a Protocol of Accession of Ecuador to the Agreement were concluded in July 2014 and the Protocol is being provisionally applied since 1 January 2017. Ratifications by Member States of both the Trade Agreement and the Ecuador Protocol are ongoing. The Trade Agreement was also amended through the Protocol of Accession of Croatia to the EU. The Protocol entered into force with Peru on 1 May 2017. Ratification by Colombia is ongoing. The supervision and facilitation of the operation and further development of the Agreement – including the evaluation of results obtained from the application of the Agreement – is under the direct responsibility of the Trade Committee, which comprises representatives of the EU and representatives of each signatory Andean Country. The Committee also supervises the work of all specialised bodies (e.g. the Sub-committees) established under the Agreement. The decisions adopted by the Committee are binding upon the Parties, which are to take all necessary measures to implement them. The Trade Committee is scheduled to meet at least once a year. The annual meetings of the implementation bodies under the Trade Agreement (Trade Committee and eight specialised Sub-committees) took place in virtual format during the month of November 2021. The minutes of all meetings are publicly available. The next Trade Committee will be chaired by Ecuador. The Agreement has helped to stabilitise trade despite fluctuations in commodity prices and a contributing factor supporting the diversifation of the economy of the three EU trading partners, and a good basis for cooperation: In 2020, bilateral trade was impacted by the effects of the pandemic in global trade (experiencing a decline from €24 to €20 billion) driven amongst others by the significant decrease of commodities prices in the global market. However, in 2021, trade between the EU and the three Andean partners rebounded and grew again by 26%, from 20 billion in 2020 to around €27 billion in 2021. Exports to the EU of minerals and energy products significantly increased as well as imports by the three Andean partners of machinery and pharmaceutical products.



2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues In 2021, the EU and the Andean partner countries continued their work to improve the implementation of the Agreement, including through a number of cooperation activities. Examples of such activities are the IP Key Latin America project in the area of intellectual property, the RBCLAC project implemented in partnership between the OECD, ILO and UN OHCHR, a number of seminars targeting specific concerns in the area of SPS and the second edition of Expo Europa in Ecuador and respective projects (funded by the Partnership Instrument) have been put in place to assist more globally in the implementation of the Agreement. Colombia In 2021, Colombia and the EU made some progress on issues relating to market access in the automotive sector: ·The new policy to modernize Colombia´s cargo fleet has proved satisfactory for truck importers as it effectively removed the import barriers derived from the previous 1:1 scrappage policy. ·The EU provided technical assistance through a TAIEX workshop to adopt and implement the 1958 UN Agreement on Vehicle Regulations. Colombia has since then been working towards accessing the UNECE 58 Agreement and has accordingly updated several technical vehicle regulations. The EU will continue to work with Colombia on these developments to prevent any deviations from the UNECE rules. Progress was also made in the area of market access with the completion of the tender to launch a new Market Access Teams (MAT) project to provide expertise and timely information to the EU Delegation and Member States with the aim to facilitate access to EU companies to the Colombian market. Some progress was also made on SPS - regionalisation, specifically Colombia recognised Belgium’s free status for African Swine Fever (ASF). On public procurement, the EU and Colombia continued discussions regarding the difficulties faced by EU companies when procuring at the sub-central level. Follow up and continued discussions on this topic continued.

In addition, a number of other outstanding issues persist, including the following: ·the ongoing WTO case regarding antidumping duties imposed to several EU companies exporting frozen fries to Colombia; ·EU companies exporting biological controllers are also affected by Colombia´s unfit norms and procedures to regulate this type of products. This is especially relevant in the framework of the discussions on pesticides and maximum residue limits (MRL) as biological controllers could replace chemical pesticides. The EU will continue to monitor Colombia´s work to better regulate this sector. ·Colombia also needs to conclude its investigation on the usurpation of Geographical Indications (GIs) of EU´s cheeses. In addition, the EU and Colombia continued discussing the certification requirements for good manufacturing practices for alcoholic drinks. In 2021, through its cooperation projects, the EU supported Colombia’s move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly economy, including a pilot project on sustainable mining in the poverty-ridden pacific region of Colombia. Furthermore, Colombia took part in the EU´s regional programmes on the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance, the promotion of Responsible Business Conduct and the adoption of Low Carbon and Circular Economy business actions. Peru The Trade Agreement continues to promote diversification of Peruvian exports to the EU, i.e. promoting a gradual shift away from reliance on mineral products towards a range of higher value agricultural products. An example of this trend is that of vegetables. Since 2013, vegetable products exported to the EU have increased steadily and currently represent 34% of total exports to the EU. Limited progress was made in the area of ·Technical Barriers to Trade where Peru, through its Supreme Decree 018-2021-AS of 12 June 2020, extended until 31 December 2022 the permission to use stickers to display health warnings on imported food products; as well as in the area of ·public procurement, including by the government providing training to entities carrying out public procurements, although more efforts are necessary to fully remove these barriers. A number of challenges persist: ·Among others, Peru continues to grant a more favourable tax treatment to local Pisco to the detriment of EU alcoholic beverages. ·Furthermore, Peru has yet to approve harmonised certificates to allow prelisting for EU establishments of processed meat products and deboned bovine meat. Similar to Colombia, Peru’s lack of recognition of the regionalisation principle enshrined in the Agreement is of strong concern. Since early 2020 Peru has in place a ban of all exports of live pigs and pig meat from 12 Member States due to ASF (African Swine Fever). ·In the field of public procurement there are also concerns regarding technical specifications in public tenders. Ecuador Ecuador has made progress in lifting barriers to trade in 2021: ·In SPS, and after more than one year of stalemate, the Ecuadorian authorities approved the operative plans for imports of Spanish citrus fruits (mandarines and oranges) and apples from Portugal. Virtual visits to ES and PT establishments took place at the end of 2021 and the final authorization to import those products was obtained in March. ·In the area of industrial goods, Ecuadorian authorities repealed RTE INEN No. 033 (3R), thus eliminating the need to present sworn documents for EU imports of ceramics as wells as laboratory testing and certifications from AENOR from other origins. At the same time, outstanding issues remain, including the following: ·With regard to the management of Ecuador´s non-automatic licences (NALS) and tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) system, and after a strong and continued pressure from the EU, the Ecuadorian authorities issued Resolution 097 at the end of 2021 to make them FTA and WTO compatible. However, due to the flaws and lack of clarity of the R097, it was revoked and replaced in March 2022 by a new Resolution 022. Renewed negotiations are ongoing between the EU and the Ecuadorian authorities in order to identify a solution in line with the text of the FTA.

·In relation to EU Geographical Indications (GIs), the usurpation of the EU GI “Feta” case is still outstanding, while the re-submission to protect the EU GI for a Czech beer was accepted by the Ecuadorian authorities and the respective process is duly carried out in view of its expected final registration as a protected GI. 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues The implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter of the Trade Agreement was reviewed at the meeting of the TSD Sub-committee held in November 2021. The meeting allowed Parties to exchange on recent policy developments related to labour and environment, and on TSD-related cooperation activities and relevant priorities. The TSD Sub-committee offered also an opportunity to touch upon the review of the TSD policy in the EU, to illustrate the various initiatives undertaken under the Green Deal – from CBAM, to horizontal due diligence and related sectoral legislation (Sustainable Product Initiative, deforestation), as well as forced labour, and to address the consultations with civil society. As regards TSD issues, the EU remains focused on labour related issues (inspections, freedom of association and collective bargaining, child labour, social dialogue, labour informality). Concerning environmental policies, priorities have expanded to include legislative developments in areas related to circular economy, biodiversity, deforestation, and initiatives to address global environmental challenges. Vis-à-vis Ecuador, the EU reiterated the importance given to the effective follow up to the ILO recommendations concerning the implementation of the Convention on freedom of association, in particular now that the matter has been seized by the judiciary at various levels. Ecuador was invited to join the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency. Vis-à-vis Colombia, the EU has expressed its concerns about the attacks on trade unions and social leaders, and while it acknowledged the recent efforts made by the government to persecute those responsible for violent crimes, the EU recalled the importance of social dialogue as a pre-condition to address the root causes of violence. In relation to labour issues in Peru, the exchanges touched upon various topics of concern, in particular the persistent challenges to the freedom of association and of anti-union violence, and the need to continue with domestic reforms to implement ILO recommendations. Among the environmental topics, the EU stressed the need to continue building the capacity and strengthen the systems for environmental quality control. At the meeting of the TSD Committee, the EU side presented and engaged on a number of EU policies dedicated to sustainability issues: ·First, on the developments on the European Green Deal and other EU climate policies. There is shared interest by all parties on issues like circular economy, deforestation and biodiversity. Peru also referred to the efforts to continue to strengthen the institutional setting for environmental monitoring and the enforcement of environmental legislation. Peru also reported on advances in the area of air quality. ·Second, on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), designed to support the adoption of Green Deal policies in third countries, and at the same time aimed at minimising the risk of carbon leakage, which would jeopardise the EU's climate ambition. The EU underlined how the CBAM does not preclude progress in terms of international coordination for the adoption of effective measures such as carbon pricing, and stressed that the main principles of the CBAM underline its compatibility with WTO rules. The parties identified a number of areas for follow-up, and agreed to engage on a continuous basis via intersessional technical meetings. The functioning of the Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) gave rise to intense exchanges which confirmed the recognition that the role of civil society is a prominent one both in the implementation of the TSD provisions of the agreement, and in the reflection on the EU TSD policy review. In that context, the EU underscored the principle of taking into account the views on the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter, expressed in the framework of national mechanisms as set out in Article 281 of the Agreement. The EU also made specific reference to the communiqué presented on 13 November 2020 during the Sub-Committee's dialogue with civil society and the general public held under Article 282 of the Agreement. The Parties held the Open Session with civil society on 30 November 2021, via videoconference. Two topics took the centre stage in the lively discussions: the procedures for the establishment of the new domestic advisory body in Ecuador, and the findings of the ex-post evaluation carried out by BKP Economic Advisors. Labour related concerns were predominant among unions and other organisations working on social issues. Concerns were raised in relation to use of pesticides in banana cultivation, and on the environmental impact of illegal gold mining. Industry voiced concerns about costs of compliance with high social and environmental standards in the EU. As it was the case in the previous year, the EU DAG jointly with organisations from the civil society from the three countries submitted a communique calling, among others, for improved functioning of the DAGs and for access to information on cooperation projects. 3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING AND SPECIFIC AREAS OF IMPORTANCE 3.1 Banana imports from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru The Trade Agreement provides for a preferential customs duty on bananas under heading 0803.00.19 (fresh bananas), progressively reduced since the date of provisional application of the Agreement until the year 2020 (following a schedule indicated in a tariff reduction table). Customs Tariffs have stabilised to 75 euros/tonne since 1 January 2020. This treatment was linked to a ‘stabilisation clause’ setting out an annual trigger volume for imports from each Andean country during the transition period. Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 19/2013 provided for the banana stabilisation mechanism (BSM). When the annual trigger volume of imports per country as set in the Agreement was met, the Commission examined the impact of these imports on the situation of the Union market for bananas to take a decision to either temporarily suspend the preferential customs duty or determine that such suspension was not appropriate. The stabilisation mechanism ended on 31 December 2019. In this context, and in accordance with Articles 3 and 13 of Regulation 19/2013, the Commission has monitored the evolution of imports of fresh bananas from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. A comprehensive report on the functioning of the EU banana market after the BSM is due for the last quarter of 2022.



2020/2021 imports of fresh bananas into the EU Country 2020 Total imports 2021 Total imports Variation (1.000 tonnes) (1.000 tonnes) 2021/2020 Colombia 1.185 1.162 -2,3% Ecuador 1.516 1.600 5,5% Peru 101 98 -3% Total 2.802 2.860 2%

In 2021 EU imports of fresh bananas from Colombia amounted to 1.162 thousand tonnes, a bit more than 2% lower than in previous year. Ecuador exported 1.600 thousand tonnes of fresh bananas to the EU a roughly 5,5% higher than previous year. Peru exported 98 thousand tonnes of fresh bananas to the EU a roughly 4% below to previous year. 3.2 Colombian anti-dumping duties on frozen fries In November 2018, Colombia imposed definitive anti-dumping (AD) measures on imports of frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, with duties ranging from ~3% to ~8%, imposed for 2 years and affecting 75% of EU exports to the country. The investigation showed serious shortcomings, notably with regard to dumping, injury and causality links. On 15 November 2019, the EU initiated a WTO dispute settlement procedure and requested consultations . Consultations failed to settle the dispute. The EU requested the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to establish a panel to rule on the legality of Colombia’s anti-dumping measures. The Panel was established by the DSB on 29 June 2020. . In October 2020, Colombia initiated the review of the measures to assess whether the conditions are met to extend the anti-dumping measures. The EU sent its first written submission to the panel on 8 March 2021. Panel hearings took place in July 2021 and in early February 2022. 3.3 Ex post evaluation of the implementation of the Trade Agreement An ex-post evaluation, which was carried out between April 2020 and July 2021 and covered the period from the start of the provisional application of the Agreement (2013 for the EU, Colombia and Peru, 2017 for Ecuador) to May 2020, was concluded in April 2022. Its final report analysed the economic, social and environmental, and human rights (including labour rights) effects, which the Agreement has had since its application in the various Parties. Some of the main conclusions of the evaluation are the following: ·In economic terms, the reduction in barriers to trade between the Parties achieved through the implementation of the Agreement allows for resources to be allocated more efficiently. As a result, the economic effect of the Agreement on global gross domestic product (GDP) was positive, with gains estimated at USD 728 million (comparing world GDP in 2020 with the Agreement with world GDP in 2020 without the Agreement). All of the four Parties to the Agreement have benefited from an increase in their GDP, although the impact is modest. ·The estimated effects of the Agreement on employment across sectors follow the pattern of trade impacts and are most positive in the Andean countries in the fruits, vegetables, and nuts sectors, and in fisheries, notably in Ecuador. In industry, sectors such as food products, chemical products or textiles (the latter in Colombia and Peru) are also estimated as beneficiaries of the Agreement. ·The Agreement is likely to have contributed to an increase in overall welfare and poverty reduction, although it is difficult to draw conclusions based on available data. While the overall effects are likely to be limited, thanks to the Agreement and due to higher exports to the EU, jobs have been created in the Andean countries, mainly in agriculture, in rural areas which had much higher poverty levels and lower labour participation rate than in urban areas. However, these areas already benefited from lower levels of informality prior to the Agreement’s entry into force, even if the Agreement contributed to further reduce them in the analysed period. ·The environmental impact of the Agreement overall is found to be small, with a very small negative impact on biodiversity and natural resources. ·The impact of the Agreement on the human rights situation in the Andean partner countries was found to be limited. Among others, the Agreement may have contributed to reducing child labour through creating job opportunities for adults. The Agreement did not have a significant impact on the right to water overall’ while all Andean countries have faced water pressure prior to the application of the Agreement. The Agreement was found to have contributed to the creation of employment mostly on temporary contracts, which had a negative impact on the capacity of workers to organise.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PART IV OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS MEMBER STATES AND CENTRAL AMERICA 1. THE AGREEMENT The Association Agreement between the EU and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America, on the other (hereinafter referred to as the "Association Agreement") was signed on 29 June 2012. 2022 marks the 10th Anniversary of its signature. The trade pillar (Part IV) of the Association Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Trade Agreement") has been provisionally applied for nine years, i.e. since 1 August 2013 with Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, since 1 October 2013 with Costa Rica and El Salvador, and since 1 December 2013 with Guatemala. Ratification by Member States of the Association Agreement is ongoing. The Trade Agreement is in a process of amendment through the signature of a Protocol of Croatia’s Accession to the Association Agreement. The Protocol was signed on 26 November 2020 opening the way for a process of ratification by the parties. The EU ratified the Protocol in July 2021, and Central American countries are also advancing well in this process. During the nine years of its application, the Trade Agreement has worked well, it has contributed to diversify the economy of our trading partners, while providing the basis for a good cooperation between both sides. The Association Agreement with Central America is a regional agreement, characterised by its comprehensive nature and a high level of ambition. In 2021, the EU was the second export destination for Central America (16.2%) after the US (32.9%) and the third supplier (8.6%) after the US (30.2%) and China (roughly 12.8%). Total exports of merchandise from the EU to the Central American countries rose from €4.8 billion in 2020 to roughly €6.0 billion in 2021 – an increase of 23% - almost recovering to the pre-pandemic level of 2019. Meanwhile, imports from Central America, which had shown more resilience during the crisis, further increased from € 5.9 billion in 2020 to almost 7.0 billion in 2021, a robust growth of only 18% with respect to 2020. The Association Committee and its six specialised Sub-committees oversee the implementation of the Agreement.





2. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 2.1 Market Access: Progress and outstanding issues The Association Committee met on 17 June 2021 at senior official level. On Market Access, discussions continued on a number of outstanding (offensive issues for the EU side), as further described below. Central American partners raised the management of Tariff Rate Quotas that the EU is applying to Central American exports of sugar and rum. In regard to SPS several trade restrictive measures persist in the region and are being discussed with the respective partner countries concerned: ·In Panama, several Member States’ export applications for meat products are pending since 2016. Delays are also reported in export applications of several Member States and in the publication of prelisting of EU establishments habilitated to export animal products notably in Panama,. The setting up of a new Food Safey Agency in Panama in October 2021 has increased the uncertainty on the administrativve process to register or update prea-approval of EU establishement. The regionalisation principle is still not yet applied in Panama. ·In Costa Rica, continued tax discrimination on imported beer prompted the EU side to request that a roadmap be established by Costa Rica to address the issue. Costa Rica had committed in a joint declaration under the Association Agreement to review its discriminatory taxation systems for beer (by 2014 at the latest) and the one for spirits (by 2017 at the latest). ·All Central America countries (except Costa Rica, which ceased to impose in its health certificates since 2020) still need to consider the elimination of the clause: “born and raised” in its health certificates for some imported products of animal origin. This clause goes against the recognition of EU as a single entity and constitutes a barrier trade. As concerns the Rules of Origin, the Commission has worked constructively with Guatemala to establish a uniform application of the rules of origin for products of tuna loins. This work ensures that only originating tuna comes into the EU with preferential tariffs and avoids any possible misapplication of the tolerance rule whereby non-originating tuna could be imported to the EU. Work will continue through technical meetings and in the Sub-Committee on Customs, Trade Facilitation and Rules of Origin to ensure a common understanding of the rules of origin for tuna products and to protect the EU’s financial interests. In respect to Geographical indications, the Commission continues to monitor the full implementation of the commitments made under the Association Agreement. Among others, the Commission continues to engage with Central American authorities to enhance enforcement of all 116 EU GIs protected through the agreement and to achieve effective protection of the term “Parmigiano Reggiano” in Guatemala and of the term “Queso Manchego” in Costa Rica, notably by establishing sound proof of producers enjoying grandfathering rights. Discussions on these matters are continuing. At the same time, there is increasing interest in Central American countries to seek protection for GIs through the existing Association Agreement. There have been applications for one new GI from Costa Rica (coffee ‘Tarrazú’) and for ten new GIs from El Salvador (coffee, cocoa and other food products), have successfully concluded their assessment procedure. A decision to add them to the protection under the agreement is envisaged to be taken in 2022. On Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Regarding the Central American Technical Regulations (RTCA Spanish acronym) the implementation of article 305.4, the status of adoption of the technical regulations included in Annex XX was reported, indicating that, of the 23 Central American Technical Regulations (Reglamentos Técnicos de Centroamérica) included in that Annex, 21 are in force throughout the region, with the exception of Panama, which has 5 of them pending approval. The RTCAs pending harmonization refer to the registration of technical grade active ingredient, formulated synthetic pesticides, and the prohibition and restriction of pesticides (As of May 2022 there are two RTCAs on pesticides that have not yet been approved by CA countries). 2.2 Trade and sustainable development: Progress and outstanding issues The implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter of the Association Agreement continued in 2021 in line with the priority issues established for each partner country. The EU continued to attach particular attention to the policy response to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the protection of vulnerable groups and social dialogue. The discussion at the TSD Board meetings - which took place on June 7, 8 and 9, 2021 - continued to focus on the labour dimension of the TSD Chapter, where particular challenges exist in Central America. Priority issues discussed with all six partners included freedom of association and collective bargaining, social dialogue, child labour and forced labour. The EU welcomed the progress made by partners in tackling various labour and social challenges. It reiterated its concerns, notably regarding violence against trade unionists in Guatemala. The EU suggested organising an event to exchange experiences with other Latin American countries. The EU also suggested further bilateral or regional follow-up exchanges on key labour issues like COVID-19 response measures, child labour and informality. On the environment, the EU and Central America discussed the situation and prospects for organic agricultural production in the EU and in Central American countries. The exchange of views provided both parties useful insights into the respective conditions for organic agricultural production, trade patterns and product categories, the legal framework as well as challenges and opportunities relevant to further promote trade in organic products as trade in organics has the potential to yield benefits in terms of sustainability. As regards cooperation, the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which are supported by the EU through the INTEC programme, presented cooperation projects on trade facilitation, economic integration, sustainable value chains and sustainable agriculture: SIECA presented the activities carried out within Components I and III of the Central American regional economic integration programme INTEC, financed by the EU, related to trade and sustainable development for Central America. IICA showcased two EU regional cooperation projects: PROCAGICA, the Central America Coffee rust integral management programme, and AGROINNOVA, which aims to improve the situation and resilience of small producers of the Central American Dry Corridor. Despite the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission continued frequent interactions with the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG). A joint note was submitted by the EU and Central American DAGs with recommendations about future TSD work under the Agreement. The Parties welcomed the joint work conducted by the DAGs and encouraged them to continue in this vein.

3. ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC MONITORING AND SPECIFIC AREAS OF IMPORTANCE 3.1 Banana imports from Central America Since entry into force of the agreement, the absolute volume as (from 797.000 tonnes in 2012 to 1.456.000 tonnes in 2019) well as the market share of bananas (from 18,8% in 2012 to 26,3% in 2019) imported from Central America top the EU has increased, thereby, contributing to diversify supply to the growing EU banana market. Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 20/2013 (the ‘Regulation’) provides for the stabilisation mechanism for fresh bananas (HS code 08 03 90 10). This stabilisation mechanism ended by the end of 2019. Customs Tariffs have stabilised to 75 euros/ton since 1 January 2020. The Commission continues to monitor with particular attention trade volumes between the EU and CA. In 2021, due to the Covid pandemic, EU imports of fresh bananas from Central America -by volume amounted to 1,353 million tons, a decrease by 7% when compared to export volumes in 2020 (1,467 million). In value, EU imports amounted to €756 million, constituting a 53% decrease when compared to 2020. No issues on price fluctuations were reported in the EU market.



2020/2021 imports of fresh bananas Country 2020 Total imports (tons) 2021 Total imports (tons) Variation 2021/2020 Costa Rica 1.034.172 1.020.138 -1% Panama 261.120 214.991 -17% Guatemala 172.161 118.683 -31% Total 1.467.453 1.353.812 -7% 3.2 Ex-post evaluation of the trade pillar of the EU-Central America Association Agreement Since December 2020, an ex post evaluation of the implementation of the Trade Agreement between the EU and Central America is being carried out. The project is analysing the impact of the implementation of the Agreement on sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions, as well as on human rights, including labour rights. The project has a duration of 16 months. During the period under review, the consultant provided the inception report in May 2021 and a draft interim report in November 2021. The preliminary conclusions are as follows: ·Regarding the economic analysis, the model suggest that there has been a significant increase in both EU imports and exports. The increase in EU imports amounts to 30% whereas EU exports have increased by 40% since 2010. The difference in the relative increase is likely to be attributable to the fact that CA countries enjoyed zero tariffs on an overwhelming majority of on their exports to the EU, under the GSP+ arrangement. Important developments have also been present in the evolution of trade in services and foreign direct investment. ·In terms of social analysis, the economic model estimates an employment increase in the CA countries in sectors such as fruits and vegetables, sugar, and processed food, stemming from increased exports to the EU. Empirical evidence suggests that women may have benefitted from employment increase in some agricultural sectors; however, positive effects may be relatively limited due to a low share (10% to 30%) of women in the total number of workers in those sectors. The EU-CA FTA is likely to have created positive effects for consumers related to a larger availability and accessibility of products and services traded between the Parties under the Agreement, and risks related to potentially unsafe products have been limited. ·Finally, concerning trade and sustainable development, the evaluation confirms the fragility of Central America vis à vis climate change. Furthermore, a potential impact of the Agreement may have arisen through the fruits and vegetables sector on land conversion (related deforestation), ecosystems and biodiversity. The recommendations by the consultant were published in January 2022. The Commission/DG TRADE’s assessment and follow-up actions will be included in a Staff working document, which should be published in the first half of 2023.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND CHILE 1. THE AGREEMENT Trade between the EU and Chile currently operates under the framework of the EU-Chile Association Agreement (hereinafter ‘the Agreement’), which includes a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement along with a political and a cooperation pillar. The Agreement entered into force in 2003 and it was the first EU bilateral agreement subject to an ex-post evaluation, conducted in 2016. Although the Agreement has worked well overall, as illustrated by the doubling of bilateral trade since its entry into force, a European Commission impact assessment carried out in 2017 pointed at the need to modernise it, so as to adapt it to the new realities of global trade and investment, lifting it to the level of the more modern agreements that both the EU and Chile had concluded in the Americas and beyond, notably by complementing it with standard provisions enshrined in the latest version of deep and comprehensive trade agreements.

In November 2021, technical negotiations on the modernisation of the Agreement were concluded, resulting in the most comprehensive and progressive bilateral trade agreement negotiated by the EU to date: ·In addition to further liberalisation of trade in agriculture under reorganised conditions, public procurement, services and investment, the modernised Agreement includes modern rules of origin and customs and trade facilitation provisions, ambitious commitments on IPR (including the protection of EU Geographical Indications for foodstuff) and non-tariff barriers, state-of-the-art investment protection provisions (including an Investment Court System), and a new chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development among many other issues. ·It also contains strong provisions on sustainability and on energy & raw materials, which will help contribute to the green transition, as well as an ambitious chapter on SMEs and, for the first time in a bilateral EU agreement, separate chapters on trade and gender and on sustainable food systems. 2.MAIN IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES In 2021, progress was made in addressing outstanding market access barriers in meetings of the institutional bodies and via EU demarches carried out by the EU Delegation in Chile. This was for example the case in the field of regulatory data protection concerning pharmaceuticals and agro-chemicals products, there currently remains a lack of certainty with respect to two elements under Chilean law. Firstly, Chilean legislation provides protection of regulatory data upon request when applying for marketing authorisation (i.e. applicants must indicate that the submitted data are undisclosed). However, applicants do not receive any document stating that such protection has been requested. Neither does the marketing authorization confirm that the protection has been granted. As a result, the pharmaceutical or agrochemical company has no legal documentation to defend itself against third parties trying to rely on their data to obtain a separate marketing authorisation. Secondly, Chilean law does not grant protection to data concerning a marketing authorisation for a product that obtained a marketing authorisation in any other country more than twelve months before the application is submitted to Chilean competent authorities. In April 2021, the EU Delegation confirmed that the barrier had been partially solved. The problem of lack of legal documentation accrediting the protection had been resolved for pharma companies, as confirmed by the pharma association. For the agrochemical sector, the situation apparently improved during the pandemic thanks to electronic applications, although it is not clear whether this improvement will remain after the pandemic. In addition, the provisions of the modernised EU-Chile Agreement will partially contribute to solving this barrier, as they incorporate for the first time the protection of regulatory data protection concerning pharmaceutical and agro-chemical products. These rules feature a higher level of protection than that of Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement. Therefore, the modernised Agreement would give the EU another forum to discuss the identified issues bilaterally with Chile, in particular the first element, as the EU could indicate that formalities related to the protection of regulatory data cannot lead to lack of protection of the data, in accordance to the Agreement. As illustrated further below there are many other many instances, the modernisation of the Association Agreement, will help to solve or at least alleviate barriers: ·This will be the case in the area of IPR, notably for concerns on copy-right enforcement and related rights on the internet to tackle online piracy since the modernised agreement should increase the standards of the enforcement measures available for right holders in Chile, approximating them to those available in the EU. These standards include the rules on the legal protection of technological measures and of rights management information. They also include effective, proportionate and dissuasive enforcement remedies, including on the possibility of issue injunctions against third parties (intermediaries) whose services are used to infringe an intellectual property right, aimed at prohibiting the continuation of the infringement. ·Likewise, in the area of public procurement, the modernised Agreement will establish rules aimed at more transparency, non-discrimination and fairness in public procurement procedures, and an increased use of electronic procurement. This will help to address requirements currently imposed by Chile, mostly for tenders run by the Ministry of Public Works, on local presence and local experience. In addition, Chile imposes designs and technical specifications that are an obstacle for EU companies, especially for newcomers, and applies excessively short deadlines for the submission of offers. In 2021, the Commission continued engaging with the Chilean authorities on these issues. Following a letter by the EU Delegation, and despite the denial of any wrongdoing by the Chilean authorities, in November 2021 Member States were reporting positive developments for EU companies on the ground. Modernised texts on rules should introduce further disciplines, notably with regard to the use of objective and non-discriminatory criteria in determining the conditions for participation to tender procedures (including in relation to the criteria of experience in previous projects). ·The provisions of TBT chapter of the modernised agreement are also likely to mitigate several trade barriers EU business continues facing in Chile: oFor example, imports of hygiene products and cosmetics from the EU presently suffer from burdensome administrative procedures, such as the cost and delay experienced by EU industry for the registration of products and the short duration of the registration. In practice, this means that products with different shades (e.g. lipsticks, eyeshadows…) cannot be registered under the same dossier, if the formula is not exactly the same (e.g. due to different mineral ingredients). For each imported cosmetic product, a certificate of analysis for each shipment and each batch is required and the analysis must be carried out by a Chilean laboratory. The TBT Chapter of the modernised Agreement inter alia provides for the selection of conformity assessment procedures proportionate to the risk of the products, disciplines on fees and cooperation on facilitation of acceptance of conformity assessment results. oFurthermore, imports of EU electronic and fuel burning products are subject to a burdensome two-step certification procedure. Certificates or tests carried out in the origin country, although valid in Chile, must be completed with tests in Chile which increase the cost for importing goods. This requirement also applies for products certified in their country of origin by internationally recognised laboratories and which are based on international standards, except if a bilateral agreement with a Chilean laboratory exists. The provisions on recognition of EU certificates in the TBT Chapter of the modernised Agreement will help to partially solve this issue. oAnother example where the TBT chapter of the modernised agreement would help to solve the barrier can be found in the area of food safety, where Chile prohibits the use of potato starch in processed meat products. This practice does not appear to be in line with the CODEX Alimentarius, which allows for the utilisation of a certain percentage of potato starch in processed meat products. The barrier affects cold cut products such as mortadella. The barrier has been discussed in meetings of the TBT subcommittee as it is considered both by the EU and Chile as a technical regulation and not as a sanitary issue. In March 2021, the EU Delegation raised the issue once again with the Chilean Ministry of Health and, in October 2021, it provided detailed background documentation to the expert committee tasked with reviewing the Chilean legislation on food additives. This review, still underway, aims at bringing Chilean legislation in line with the CODEX Alimentarius and could potentially solve the barrier. This potential solution would be in line with the provision of the TBT Chapter of the modernised Agreement, which includes the CODEX Alimentarius Commission into the list of organisations that develop relevant international standards. In 2021, a new trade irritant was reported related to import restrictions on seeds and dried legumes, linked to Chile's request to fumigate with methyl bromide (a substance prohibited in the EU) at the place of origin, as the only accepted treatment to deal with the Trogoderma Granarium pest. 3.ACTIVITIES OF SPECIFIC MONITORING AND RELEVANCE IN 2021

In 2021, monitoring activities continued to follow closely the procedure concerning requests for registration of several trademarks that, if registered, would be in conflict with Geographical Indications of EU cheeses and a meat product that Chile has agreed to protect under the modernised Agreement. The PI project on Data Collection on Public Procurement in Chile, implemented in 2021, helped to obtain a better understanding of the public procurement market in Chile, by measuring its size, describing its features and its entry barriers. This could contribute to improving the participation of European companies in this market. The PI project on Preference Utilisation Rates (PUR) concluded in August 2021, which included Chile, assessed the uptake of preferences of EU goods exported under the trade agreement with Chile, and identified potential areas for improvement, strengthening the implementation and enforcement of trade agreements in line with EU Trade Strategy. In 2021, through its regional cooperation programmes, the EU supported Chile’s move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly economy, including the Mineral Development Platform on sustainable mining; the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance, the promotion of Responsible Business Conduct and the adoption of Low Carbon and Circular Economy business actions.



ANNUAL INFORMATION SHEET ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADE PILLAR OF THE EU-MEXICO ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 1. THE AGREEMENT Mexico is the biggest trading partner of the EU in Latin America today, and was the first country in Latin America to sign an Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement with the EU (‘Global Agreement’). The Global Agreement was signed in 1997 and its trade provisions were later developed into a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that entered into force in March 2000 for goods and in February 2001 for services (hereinafter called ‘the FTA’). In order to adapt the Global Agreement to the new realities of global trade and investment, negotiations on its modernisation were launched in 2016. On 21 April 2018, after nine rounds of negotiations, an ‘agreement in principle’ was reached on the trade part outlining the numerous improvements to the legal framework of EU-Mexico bilateral trade relations. On 28 April 2020 the European Union and Mexico concluded the last outstanding element of the negotiation - agreeing on the exact scope of the reciprocal opening of public procurement markets at subcentral level and ensuring a high level of predictability and transparency in public procurement processes. This modernisation will set a new and modern framework for EU-Mexico bilateral trade and investment relations on the basis of reciprocity and will promote new opportunities for business, while including strong and clear commitments o