Peru and the European Union (EU) are reportedly set to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which would come into force in early 2012 (due to the complexity of the process), according to reports by Peruvian news agency Living in Peru.
Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister, Martin Pérez, has confirmed that negotiations in Brussels have come to an end, and that the terms are convenient for Peru, paving the way for the agreement to be signed on 18 May at the VI EU-LAC Summit of Heads of State and Government.
Under the deal, Peru will be granted an increase in its duty-free banana import allowance to a maximum of 75,000 tonnes.
Peru’s President Alan García has also suggested that, as well as bananas, Peruvian products such as asparagus, table grapes and avocados will also benefit under the agreement.
Peruvian exports to the EU could grow by 10 per cent annually as a result, and Mr García has been reported as saying the FTA will also generate thousands of jobs.
On Monday (1 March) the Peru-China FTA also came into force, which provides tariff-free access (in several phases) for a number of goods, including Peruvian fruits.
Indeed, tariff-free table grapes are reportedly already on the water from Peru to Shanghai.
The Andean nation also has an additional protocol in place to export mangoes and citrus to China, and is working to open the doors for avocados and asparagus.
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