Decision

21 to 22 July 2022: Joint minutes of the first UK-Andean Trade Committee

Updated 22 January 2024

1. Opening remarks / introductions

2. Adoption of agenda

Parties agreed the agenda.

3. Adoption of Rules of Procedure

• All Parties agreed to approve the proposed timeline for adopting the new Rules of Procedure by a Trade Committee Decision, through written procedure.
• The UK agreed to provide the Spanish version of the new Rules of Procedure once the English version has been approved by all Parties. Both versions will be adopted at the same time.

4. Reports and updates on the sub-committees’ discussions

Intellectual property (IP) update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the IP Sub-Committee meeting which took place on 17 March 2022.

The UK highlighted the need to work together to better understand relevant domestic legislation and procedures and requested that Ecuador and Peru provide written responses to questions that were submitted after the sub-committee meeting. The UK emphasised the need to ensure Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream are represented as originating in both Ireland and Northern Ireland on Colombia’s and Peru’s respective GI registers.

Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru highlighted their interest in advancing the process of protecting their pending GIs that had been presented to the IP Sub-Committee before the UK left the EU. Peru mentioned their concerns around time constraints. The Andean Countries committed to provide the relevant information and asked the UK to open a dialogue to facilitate progress.

Operational conclusion

All Parties agreed to continue interim dialogues on their matters of interest through correspondence.

Trade and sustainable development (TSD) update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the TSD Sub-Committee which took place on 7 and 8 April 2022.

The UK highlighted that they look forward to holding follow up TSD meetings with Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia ahead of the second UK-Andean TSD Sub-Committee in April 2023 and agreed to hold a TSD Sub-Committee with Colombia following their ratification of the Agreement, as they were just observers in the first meeting. Colombia agreed with this.

Ecuador highlighted the importance of the Civil Society Dialogue and suggested holding the first Dialogue next year. They stated that they would be keen to coordinate it as soon as possible.

Peru mentioned that it is important to hold the Dialogue at the end of the TSD Sub-Committees, and to convene Civil Society Dialogue well in advance. They are open to hold the public session this year or next year after the TSD Sub-Committee takes place.

Colombia agreed with Ecuador and Peru on coordinating the Civil Society Dialogue next year.

Operational conclusions

• The UK agreed to send in writing the proposed timeline for the adoption of the TSD Group of Experts. In principle, all Parties have agreed that this timeline should not exceed January 2023.
• The UK agreed to send in writing the proposal to analyse the possibility of superseding Decision 4/2014 of the EU-Andean Agreement, which has been adopted mutatis mutandis.
• The UK and Colombia agreed to set a date for the TSD Sub-committee.

Government procurement (GP) update

The UK, as Chair, provided a report of the GP Sub-Committee meeting that took place on 21 April 2022.

Colombia explained the need to adopt a new Decision between the UK and Colombia to include 6 new central government public entities within Annex XII of the Trade Agreement. Colombia explained this is a procedural matter considering that the corresponding EU-Andean Agreement Decision 1/2021 was adopted on 17 May 2021, so it was not adopted mutatis mutandis in this Agreement.

The Andean Countries highlighted the importance of working with the UK to identify activities that could help private sector businesses access the UK public procurement tenders.

Regarding the UK’s concern on insurance broking services, Ecuador stated that there is no conflict with the government procurement commitments of the trade agreement.

Operational conclusion

• The UK and Colombia will adopt the new Decision to update Annex XII through written procedure in due course and will notify Ecuador and Peru when it is to be adopted.

Technical barriers to trade (TBT) update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the TBT Sub-Committee meeting that took place on 26 April 2022.

The Andean Countries emphasised their interest in a future mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on organic products.

The UK explained that they will respond to the technical questions on organics in due course, and that they are open to exploring the possibility of working towards an MRA on organic products in the future.

Operational conclusions

• The UK committed to sharing the answers to the questions on organics with all parties soon.

Customs, trade facilitation and rules of origin update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the Customs, Trade Facilitation and RoO Sub-Committee meeting which took place on 7 June 2022.

The UK expressed willingness to use new customs contacts to exchange experiences and useful information.

The Andean Countries agreed on the importance of cooperation between customs authorities. Colombia said they are interested in identifying where we could go further in their bilateral cooperation. Ecuador mentioned their interest in technical assistance from the UK in trade facilitation.

The UK thanked the Andean Countries for their work and engagement in customs matters, as well as the written exchange of information regarding rules of origin.

Ecuador emphasised their concerns on cases where the certificates of origin have not been completed correctly. Ecuador recommended that the Rules of Origin Authority provides more training on issuing entities in the UK, to avoid future mistakes.

Operational conclusions

• The UK committed to sending as soon as possible the responses to the items related to Rules of Origin to finish the discussion on this matter in writing.

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the SPS Sub-Committee meeting which took place on 13 and 16 June 2022.

Parties agreed to continue exchanging information by correspondence to progress on key objectives before the next Trade Committee meeting.

Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru reiterated the importance of maintaining an open dialogue on the UK’s implementation of the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) legislation.

Colombia emphasised their interest in receiving technical assistance from the UK on SPS matters and thanked the UK for its openness to discussing this.

Ecuador thanked the UK for considering producing a document that sets out the of sanitary approval processes for animal products into the UK, like the Unified Procedure document that Ecuador has developed to explain the process to access UK products into Ecuador.

The UK mentioned their interest in adopting a specific Rules of Procedure (RoP) for SPS Sub-Committee meetings and committed to sharing a first draft with the Andean Countries, once the new general RoP have been adopted.

Operational conclusions

• The UK agreed to respond to Parties request of producing a document like the Unified Procedure of Ecuador.
• The UK agreed to share the first draft of the SPS RoP with the Parties.

Agriculture update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the Agriculture Sub-Committee meeting which took place on 24 April 2022.

Parties agreed the Sub-Committee as an annual forum to update each other on the utilisation of the TRQs and address any difficulties companies have in maximising utilisation of the Agreement.

Ecuador suggested using the forum to update each other on the levels of production and bilateral exchanges of products coming from organic farming.

Operational conclusion

• Parties will continue to discuss the best way to exchange information for future Sub-committee meetings.

Market access update

The UK, as Chair, provided a summary of the Market Access Sub-Committee meeting which took place on 17 June 2022.

The UK highlighted that Peru’s tax treatment of imported spirits compared to locally produced ones was an important matter for the spirits industry. The UK requested for Peru to provide timely answers to the questions to be submitted to the WTO’s Committee on Market Access following the Trade Committee.

The Andean Countries reiterated the importance of progressing on a joint study on the banana tariff and committed to send the UK the proposed roadmap.

Operational conclusions

• The UK will send written questions on the Pisco tax issue to Peru.
• Ecuador in coordination with Colombia and Peru, will propose a Roadmap to develop a study on the banana tariff. The UK will review the proposal to agree on a final roadmap for work between 2022 and 2024.

5. Other market access matters

A. Update on the status of the implementation of the UK deforestation legislation (due diligence on forest risk commodities)

The UK provided an update on the status of the deforestation legislation and the scope of its application. The UK will publish details once the final approach has been decided.

The UK explained that the legislation will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the UK to use forest risk commodities that have not been produced in accordance with relevant local laws (those of the producing country), and that businesses will need to take steps to show that they have taken proportionate action to ensure this is the case, and to report on this exercise annually. The UK also said that to ensure transparency, information on businesses’ due diligence exercises will be published.

The Andean Countries thanked the UK for the information and expressed their interest in participating in the policy development process, which the UK welcomed.

The UK clarified that exact decisions on the timelines as well as the scope of the legislation were yet to be determined.

The Andean Countries also suggested that the TBT Sub-Committee lead on discussions going forward. Peru highlighted the need to follow up on this topic.

Operational conclusions

• The UK will follow up discussions on Deforestation legislation after the Committee. The Andean Countries will send any additional queries in writing.

B. Update on Colombia’s plans regarding the spirits monopoly legislation in Colombia

The UK noted that spirits are the UK’s main export to Colombia. The UK acknowledged the important progress that Colombia has made through Law 1816 of 2016 and mentioned that its industry has reported this as a major step that has allowed international companies to participate in a relatively competitive environment in Colombia. However, the UK industry’s main concern now is uncertainty regarding a potential rolling back of Law 1816.

The UK asked Colombia to keep them updated on any plans to reform the Law and requested that UK representatives and interested UK companies are included in the consultation processes through its British Embassy in Bogota.

Colombia thanked the UK for raising this concern and provided an update on the status of the law.

Colombia stated that there are no current plans or proposals in Congress to modify or update law 1816 and committed to make the UK aware should this change in the future.

Operational conclusions

• Colombia agreed to keep the UK updated on any potential future legislative projects that could affect the current implementation of the monopoly of spirits and to invite UK to participate in any potential consultation process.

6. Arbitrators

The UK presented a proposed timeline to select the 30 general arbitrators (including the 10 chairpersons), that need to be adopted within the trade agreement for dispute settlement purposes. The UK proposed to select the chairpersons first, and then start the process of selecting the other 20 (5 proposed by each Party). Finally, the UK proposed to finish this process by January 2023 to start a similar process for selecting the arbitrators with sectorial experience.

The 3 Andean Countries agreed with this timeline and requested that the UK send the proposal by written correspondence.

Operational conclusions

• The UK will share the proposed timeline by correspondence to receive a written confirmation from the Andean Countries.

7. Trade Committee decisions

The UK chair noted the status of the Trade Committee decisions, explaining that all the EU - Andean Trade Committee decisions have been adopted mutatis mutandis since the first day of entry into force of the Trade Agreement, in accordance with Article 6.1 of the UK-Andean Countries Trade Agreement.

The UK stated that Article 6 of the Trade Agreement does not prevent the UK-Andean Countries Trade Committee from making decisions which are different to, revoke or supersede those decisions. In this regard, the UK emphasised the need to supersede Decisions 1/2014 (Rules of Procedure), 3/2014 (List of Arbitrators) and 5/2014 (List of Experts).

The Andean Countries agreed with this proposal.

Operational conclusions

• The Trade Committee agreed to supersede the relevant decisions following the notified timelines.

8. Northern Ireland Protocol

The UK provided an update on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The UK explained the new legislation that has been introduced in Parliament, to address any practical problems in the implementation of the Agreement.

The Andean Countries thanked the UK for the information.

Operational conclusions

• The UK directed the Andean Countries to GOV.UK for the latest information.
• The Andean Countries will review the information and will send specific questions to the UK in case it is needed.

9. Trade policy update

All Parties shared information about their trade policy priorities and their trade negotiation agendas.

10. Preparation for next Trade Committee in 2023

Parties shared their suggestions on the format and approach for the next year of Committee meetings.

Parties agreed on the need to hold Trade Committee meetings in person where possible, as well as certain sub-committees when necessary. All welcomed a hybrid approach where appropriate.

Ecuador agreed to be the next chair and indicated that the next Trade Committee meeting should take place in the second semester of 2023.

Operational conclusions

• Ecuador agreed to be the next chair and therefore, to host the next Trade Committee and sub-committee meetings during the second half of 2023.
• All Parties agreed to share best practices and preferences for the next Trade Committee meeting and to meet in early 2023 to discuss these matters.

11. Any other business

Trade and competition matters

The UK highlighted that Article 293.5 of the Agreement states that an update on the subsidies related to trade in services is not required unless there has been an exchange of information request. The UK noted that as there has been no request from any Party, there was nothing to update during this year.

12. Final remarks

• The UK Chair thanked the Andean Countries for a fruitful and productive meeting.
• The Andean Countries thanked the UK for organising the meeting as chair and highlighted the importance of continued discussions at a working level to ensure progress is being made on important matters and commitments.