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Panama is One Step Closer to an Association Agreement with the European Union

By Juan Carlos Martinez

Panama has been working hard at gaining full participation in the negotiations being carried out by a Central American organization of nations called SIECA. Translated it is called the Economic Integration System of Central America. SIECA has been negotiating an Association Agreement with the European Union and Panama had proposed joining these negotiation under a scheme Panama called SIECA+1 (the one being Panama).

Originally the European Union was reluctant to accept this proposal. Their mandate was to negotiate with the Central American countries formally grouped under SIECA and they required Panama to join in. Panama's response was that it would be extremely complicated to join SIECA due to different fiscal and customs regimens which would be quite complicated to comply with SIECA's, therefore Panama was only allowed to participate in the negotiation meetings with the European Union as an observer since 2007.
 
The European Union has decided to approve the entry of Panama as an active participant in the negotiations. The results of this agreement could directly benefit the agricultural sector as the European market receives 85% of Panama's exports of melon, watermelon and pineapples.
 
The agreement with the European Union is a commercial association that will assist in trade agreements with all Central American countries within SIECA. Panama also agreed to accept all points already negotiated between SIECA and EU without any objections or variations. This is an important commercial move for Panama which will enhance trade and bring in more international revenues.

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