Bloc-to-block negotiation guaranteed
CAN countries reach agreement on 95% of the base tariffs
for negotiation with the EU  

Lima, November 15, 2007.- The Andean Community Member Countries were able to define the starting point for tariff reduction (SPTR) for 6 739 tariff items out of a total of 7 103 --94.9% of the tariff universe in terms of trade and 94.5% of the total imports from the EU in 2006.  

This high level of agreement, reached during the Andean coordination meetings held last week in Lima, guaranteed the forthcoming bloc-to-bloc tariff negotiations and unrestricted compliance with the commitment to adopt a unified position in their negotiations with the EU.   

In other words, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the CAN Member Countries, are in a position to put forward a joint offer for this number of subitems and this volume of trade.   

Agreements were also reached during the Andean coordination meetings on negotiating modalities and methods, which were reported to the European Union, with a view to their use in the forthcoming second round of negotiations scheduled to take place in Brussels this coming December 10 to 14.   

In compliance with the commitment assumed at the first round of negotiations to exchange information about the starting point for tariff reduction by November 15, 2007 at the latest, the Andean Member Countries today let the European Commission know its SPTR.  The European bloc, in turn, delivered its base tariff for the negotiations.