After completing the seventh round of negotiations, the authorities of Central America and South Korea agreed to sign the free trade agreement (FTA) on November 16 in Nicaragua.
"We expect to make the official closing of negotiations on November 16 in Managua, during the meeting of Ministers and the heads in charge of foreign trade," said Enrique Lacs, the Guatemalan Vice Minister of integration and foreign trade.
According to Lacs, "there are only some technical aspects of the access and origin lists pending, and this will be defined at the ministerial meeting." The completed chapters include: government procurement, labor, dispute settlement, environmental, sanitary, and phytosanitary measures, competition policies, and technical barriers to trade.
However, once the negotiations are finished, the agreement will be subject to legal review, must be signed by the president, and voted on by the respective congresses.
The negotiations for the free trade agreement between Central America and South Korea started in June 2015 and the first round of negotiations was held from September 21 to 25 in Seoul.
Source: marcotradenews.com