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On October 1999, in Ciudad de Guatemala, the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Chile met for signing the final text of the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Central America.
The objectives of the Free Trade Agreements between Chile and Central America are: establishing a free trade zone; encouraging goods and services trade diversification and growth between the Parties; promoting loyal condition of competition within the free trade zone; eliminating trade barriers and facilitating movements of goods and services; substantially promoting, protecting and increasing each Party s investments, and creating efficient procedures for the application and the accomplishment of the Agreement, in terms of a joint management and difference solutions.
The Agreement establishes regarding to the National Treatment and Market Access of Goods except otherwise provided- that each Party shall progressively eliminate their customs duties over all originating goods.
They agreed -among others- the following trade issues: temporal admission of goods; customs valuation; re-importation of goods after being repaired; and restrictions to export supporting programs.
As regards rules of origin, the Agreement has a group of rules that determine criteria and specific requirements so that a product can be considered as originated in a specific territory and, besides a number of rules of origin in subjects as: regional value content, indirect materials, accumulation of rules de minimis, etc. It has to be mentioned that exporters and importers are required to carry out product certification and declaration.
The FTA establishes the application of principles such as national treatment and most favored-nation treatment over transborder service trade, granting the best of it for both instances and the restriction of demanding local presence the other Party.
The Parties committed themselves to celebrate bilateral Agreements in order to avoid double taxation within a reasonable time period, after the Agreement comes into effect.
