Peru

The Free Trade Agreement covers a broad range of areas, including trade in goods (industrial and agricultural products), investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, and competition. The Agreement foresees negotiations on a Chapter on services.

Bilateral arrangements on agricultural products between three individual EFTA States and Peru have been concluded in parallel and form part of the instruments establishing the free trade area between both sides.

The main Agreement consists of 13 Chapters, 134 Articles and 14 Annexes. The Agreement covers the following main subjects:

• Trade in Goods
• Rules of Origin
• Trade Facilitation
• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
• Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
• Trade Remedies
• Trade in Services
• Investment/Establishment
• Protection of Intellectual Property (IPR)
• Government Procurement
• Competition
• Institutional Provisions
• Dispute Settlement

Trade in Goods

Industrial Goods and Fish and marine products

Industrial goods originating in Peru, including fish and other marine products, will benefit from duty-free access to the markets of the EFTA States as of the entry into force of the Agreement (Chapter 2). For such products originating in the EFTA States and imported into Peru, most customs duties will be progressively dismantled over transitional periods of up to 9 years (Annexes IV and VIII).

Agricultural products

The Agreement provides for tariff concessions on processed agricultural products (Chapter 3 and Annex III). Tariff concessions on basic agricultural products are covered by the bilateral agricultural agreements, which are part of the instruments establishing a free trade area between the Parties.

Rules of Origin

The rules of origin are based on the Pan-European model (Annex V).

Trade Facilitation

The Agreement includes detailed provisions on trade facilitation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters (Annexes VI and VII).

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

The Agreement contains a provision establishing the governance of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO SPS Agreement) to the FTA. It further foresees a strengthening of cooperation in the field and establishes a forum for SPS experts.

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

The Agreement contains a provision establishing the governance of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT Agreement) to the FTA. It further foresees a strengthening of cooperation in the field and regular consultations within the framework of the Joint Committee.

Trade Remedies

The Agreement includes provisions on subsidies and anti-dumping measures affecting the trade relations between the Parties as well as disciplines on global and bilateral safeguard measures.

Trade in Services

Chapter 4, on services, refers to the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The Parties engage in negotiating a fully-fledged Chapter on services within a year after the entry into force of the Agreement. One article in the Chapter and an Annex set out the principles regarding the recognition of qualifications of service suppliers.

Investment/Establishment

Chapter 5 aims to improve the legal framework conditions for EFTA and Peruvian businesses investing in each other’s markets. The Parties grant each other national treatment for the establishment of businesses, thereby providing for non-discriminatory market access for each other’s investments. For a few areas, the Parties have lodged reservations to national treatment based on restrictions in their national legislation (Annex XI). The investment provisions in the Agreement complement any Investment Protection Treaties concluded bilaterally between individual EFTA States and Peru.

Protection of Intellectual Property (IPR)

The Agreement contains a full-fledged chapter on intellectual property rights (Chapter 6) covering all fields of IPR as well as measures relating to enforcement. The Chapter is based on the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), but includes certain improvements and clarifications with respect to TRIPS and covers, among others, measures relating to biodiversity.

Government Procurement

Through Chapter 7 of the Agreement, the Parties consent to mutually open their Government Procurement markets. The covered government entities are listed in Annex XIII (Covered Entities), while further provisions are contained in Annex XIV (General Notes).

Chapter 7 on Government Procurement deals with the procedures to be followed by a government entity which is procuring goods, services and construction services above a certain threshold (specified in Annex XIII). The Chapter was inspired by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, but adapted to reflect the specific interests of the Parties.

Competition

The Parties recognise that anti-competitive business practices have the potential to undermine the benefits of liberalisation arising from the Agreement (Chapter 8). Accordingly, each Party commits to applying its competition legal framework with a view to avoiding such practices. The Parties also agree to cooperate on issues relating to competition law enforcement.

Institutional Provisions

The Agreement establishes a Joint Committee, which supervises and administers the Agreement and oversees its further development (Chapter 11). The Joint Committee may take decisions in cases provided for by the Agreement and make recommendations in other matters.

Dispute Settlement

Chapter 12 contains rules and procedures for the settlement of disputes arising from the Agreement between one or more EFTA States and Peru.

Annexes - English

Anexos - Español

Agricultural Agreements

For EFTA-Peru trade statistics, see EFTA Trade Statistics Tool