Costa Rica and Mexico agreed to hold bilateral technical and commercial meetings in a last ditch effort to resolve the Hass avocado conflict, outside of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The agreement between the parties was achieved after the XVI meeting of the leaders of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Dialogue and Coordination Mechanism, which ended on Wednesday, March 29 in Costa Rica. It was achieved after a meeting which was attended by the presidents of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis.
This final bilateral effort will be made even though the Mexican government officially opened proceedings against Costa Rica on March 8, nearly two years after the country suspended the issuance of permits to import Hass avocados from Mexico, the leading producer and exporter, and eight other markets.
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), issued the measure to suspend imports in May 2015. The entity argued that they took the measure to prevent the possible entry of the sunblotch disease to Costa Rica.
Mexico argued that Costa Rica hadn't respected the due process in international pacts agreed and that Costa Rica didn't have any technical arguments to support the measure.
The first stage of the process at the WTO is the mechanism of consultations, in which the countries can reach an agreement and prevent the issue from being considered by a panel of experts. The dispute in the multilateral body is in the first phase.
However, the agreed deliberations will be carried outside the WTO. If the parties reach an agreement, they shall notify the Organization, as these actions can be performed during the consultation phase.
The Costa Rica - Mexico Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Cicomex) expressed its satisfaction with the agreement between the parties. "We are waiting to know the agreed deadlines for these negotiations and we hope that the leadership of President Solis will prevail during the negotiations," said Santiago Aguilar, executive director of Cicomex, in a statement.
Cicomex stated that Costa Rica's commercial prestige in the international arena was at stake.
Source: nacion.om