In December of 2023, Chile and the EU signed an agreement for the modernization of the Association Agreement currently existing between both parties, which entered into force in 2005. The EU has a strong deficit in its agri-food trade with Chile, as its exports to the Latin American country up until September of last year stood at 186,000 euro and its imports at 569 million euro.
Between January and September 2023, the EU exported to Chile 293 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables for a value of 186,000 euro, according to data from the Statistical Office of the European Union, Eurostat, processed by FEPEX. In contrast, imports stood at 269,297 tons for a value of 569 million euro.
In the case of Spain, fruit and vegetable trade with Chile was practically non-existent this year. From January to October 2023, Spain exported no fresh fruits and vegetables to Chile. In this same period, Spain imported from Chile 52 tons of fruits and vegetables worth 100.7 million euro. In 2022, the last full year for which statistics are available, Spain made no agri-food exports to Chile and imported 42,653 tons of fruits and vegetables worth 85.8 million euro from the Latin American country, according to statistics from the Customs and Excise Department.
On December 4, the EU Council decided to sign the Advanced Framework Agreement and the Interim Trade Agreement with Chile, which together constitute an updated version of the EU-Chile Association Agreement in force. The signing of the agreements took place on December 13.
The Advanced Framework Agreement is based on shared universal values such as democracy and human rights. It includes cooperation in areas such as health, environment, climate change, ocean governance, energy, taxation, education and culture, workers, employment and social affairs, science and technology, and transport. Meanwhile, the Interim Trade Agreement deals with trade and investment liberalization. According to the Commission, about 99.9% of EU exports will be duty-free when the agreement comes into force, which is expected to increase EU exports to Chile by up to 4.5 billion euro.
After the signing of the Agreements, the European Parliament will be asked to give its consent so that the Council can adopt the Decisions concluding the Agreements. Once both parties have completed their internal procedures, the agreement may enter into force, according to information published on the website of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU of 2023 and the website of the Council itself.