Within the framework of the Brexit international scenario, on 18 July the Association Agreement between Central America and the United Kingdom (Aacru) was signed, a multilateral agreement that will replace the current preferential trade relations with the United Kingdom, established in the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Central American countries, known as ADA, and which has been in force since 2013.
Through a press release, the Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industries, MICI, reported that the countries of the Andean Community that maintain a trade agreement with the European Union (Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, among others) have already signed an agreement with the United Kingdom. According to Trade Minister Ramón E. Martínez, "this agreement is a technical replica of the current agreement with the European Union, which aims to safeguard legal stability, maintaining the commercial, political and cooperation pillar of the existing Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, by virtue of the imminent departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union".
Commercial exchange
Aside from the Colon Free Zone operations, total trade flows between Panama and the United Kingdom reached $89 million by 2018. Although exports to the United Kingdom are modest, 84% correspond to fruits such as melon, pineapple and banana. Of these, bananas represent 56%.
Another of the countries benefited by the agreement and which maintains intense trade with the United Kingdom is Costa Rica. According to data from the British-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (Britt-Cham), the United Kingdom is Costa Rica's second largest trading partner in the European Union (EU), with about 10% of the country's exports sent to this destination. The value of trade between the two countries, in 2018, was 326 million dollars. On the other hand, 8% of EU imports come from the United Kingdom. More than 150 Costa Rican products are exported to this nation, making the United Kingdom Costa Rica's 11th largest trading partner. The main products that Costa Rica exports to the United Kingdom, according to data from the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer), are melon, banana, pineapple and cassava.
Source: laestrella.com.pa / nacion.com
