The governments of the United States and Peru continue to advance in the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). To this end, the fifth meeting of the Free Trade Commission, responsible for ensuring the implementation and usage of the agreement, was held in Washington DC on November 12.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Edgar Vasquez, headed the Peruvian delegation while John Melle, the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, headed the US delegation.
Key issues were addressed at the meeting, such as improving access to diverse Peruvian products to the US market, and exchanging information and experiences to strengthen the technical capabilities of its institutions so they can make the best use of the agreement, which has been in force since February 2009.
In addition, there was progress made in Sanitary and Phitosanitary Measures, and in Technical Barriers to Trade.
Sanitary measures
In particular, the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which was attended by officers of SENASA and Sanipes, discussed issues of bilateral interest; including access to the US market for various agricultural products such as papaya, mango over 650 grams, and citrus, in a joint effort between Senasa and Aphis, its US counterpart.
Peru also expressed concern about the potential impact some of the products it exports to the United States (asparagus and blueberries) will face, due to the new tariffs set by the US health authority (APHIS) for sanitary inspections.
The US representative said that they would assess steps to facilitate the access of these products to avoid the impact of the measure.
Moreover, the parties also discussed issues related to the issuance of technical regulations, the cooperation projects that Peru will carry out regarding standards and conformity within the APEC framework in 2016, and bilateral cooperation in good regulatory practices and other sectors of interest for the Andean country.
Finally, the delegations discussed about cooperation on environmental and labor issues, as well as the possible technical support that Peru could receive for workshops and activities during the APEC 2016 meetings that will be held in Peru.
Source: americaeconomia.com