WTO | Regional trade agreements

EFTA - Central America (Costa Rica and Panama)

Basic InformationWTO Consideration ProcessRTA ProvisionsTrade-related data

Agreement name:	EFTA - Central America (Costa Rica and Panama)
Coverage:	Goods & Services	Type:	Free Trade Agreement & Economic Integration Agreement
Status:	In Force	Notification under:	GATT Art. XXIV & GATS Art. V
Date of signature:	24-Jun-2013	Date of notification:	19-Nov-2014
Date of entry into force:	19-Aug-2014	End of implementation period:	2028
Remarks:	Dates of entry into force: For Costa Rica, Panama and Norway: 19-Aug-2014; For Costa Rica, Panama, Liechtenstein and Switzerland: 29-Aug-2014; For Costa Rica, Panama and Iceland: 05-Sep-2014.
Current signatories:	European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
Original signatories:	European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
RTA Composition:	Bilateral; One Party is an RTA
Region:
All Parties WTO members?	Yes	Cross-Regional:	No

Official Web Address

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
Costa Rica, Ministerio de Comercio Exterior
Panamá, Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias

Text of the agreement

Text of the agreement	E S

Annexes & related documents

Annexes	E S

Consideration status (G):

Factual Presentation issued

Consideration status (S):

Factual Presentation issued

Date of Consideration (G):

05-Apr-2016

Date of Consideration (S):

05-Apr-2016

Early announcement

Date negotiations commenced:	28-Feb-2012	Date of signature:	24-Jun-2013
Remarks:	The Agreement covers trade in goods, including industrial products, fish and other marine products, and agricultural products. In addition, it includes provisions on trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, competition, trade and sustainable development, and cooperation, as well as institutional and dispute settlement provisions. The Agreement establishes a Joint Committee which, among other functions, will supervise and examine the application thereof. The Agreement is foreseen to enter into force in 2014, pending the completion of internal procedures by the Parties.

Related documents

Document series: WT/REG357

Document type	Symbol	Language
Notification (G)	WT/REG357/N/1	E F S
Notification (S)	S/C/N/774	E F S
Factual Presentation (G&S)	WT/REG357/1/Rev.1	E F S
Questions and Replies	WT/REG357/2	E F S
Questions and Replies	WT/REG357/3	E F S
Note on the Meeting of the CRTA	WT/REG357/M/1	E F S

Document type	Language
Factual Presentation (G & S)	E F S

RTA Provisions Glossary

For details on these provisions, please consult the Glossary.

Last modified on: 14/05/2019

Topics
	Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ)
	All quantitative import restrictions prohibited
	Rules of Origin (RoO)
		Change of Tariff Classification Criteria (CTC)
		Regional Value Content Criteria (RVC)
		Other Criteria(s)
		De minimis rules
		Outward-processing allowed
		Cumulation among Parties
		Cumulation with non-Parties permitted
	All Export restrictions, including quantitative restrictions, prohibited
	Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO SPS Agreement
		Transparency obligations (SPS)
	Technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to trade (TBT)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO TBT Agreement
		Transparency obligations (TBT)
	Safeguard Mechanisms (Goods)
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Safeguard Agreement
		Exclusion of an RTA party in global safeguard action
		RTA-specific safeguard measures permitted in the transition period or shortly thereafter
	Balance-of-payments measures (Goods)
	Anti-Dumping measures
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Agreement on Anti-Dumping
		Dispute Settlement not applicable (Anti-Dumping measures)
	Countervailing measures
		Specifically reaffirms or incorporates WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures
		Stricter rules on imposition of intra-RTA countervailing measures
		Dispute Settlement not applicable (Countervailing measures)
	Subsidies (Goods)
		Prohibition of agricultural export subsidies
	MFN Clause/Preferences extended from other RTAs (Goods)
	Sector-specific chapter/section or other legal instrument (Goods)
	Services
		Positive list (Services)
		MFN provision (Services)
	Rendez-Vous/Review/Evolutionary clause (services)
	Investment Liberalization Provisions
		National Treatment with regard to the entry of investment (establishment)
		Investment liberalization
	Other Investment Provisions
		Investment Promotion


	Provisions on capital transfers
	Domestic Regulation
	Mutual Recognition
	Balance-of-payments measures (Services)
	Movement of Natural Persons
	General Exceptions
	Security Exceptions
	Accession
		Accession open to some third parties only
	Dispute Settlement (DS)
		Ad hoc Adjudicative Process
		Choice of forum
		Exclusive use of forum chosen
	Government procurement
	Intellectual property rights
		Copyrights and neighbouring rights
		Patent
		Trademarks
		Industrial Designs
		Geographical Indications (GIs)
		Traditional Knowledge
		Enforcement
	Competition
		Adopts or maintains competition law
		Dispute Settlement not applicable (Competition)
	Provisions on designated monopolies or State Owned Enterprises (SOEs)
	Environment
		No relaxation of environmental laws
		Dispute Settlement not applicable (Environment)
	Labour
		No relaxation of labour laws
		Dispute Settlement not applicable (Labour)
	Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
		Cooperation
	E-Commerce
		Customs duty exemption for Digital Products Transmitted Electronically

Document title
Costa Rica
Panama
EFTA
EFTA - Costa Rica and Panama (Services)

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