EFTA and Colombia hold third Joint Committee meeting

The Joint Committee established under the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Colombia, 30 October 2019 in Bogotà.

Elsa Maria Ardila Guzman, Director of Trade Relations at the Colombian Ministry of Trade, headed the Colombian team while Ambassador Markus Schlagenhof, Head of the World Trade Division in the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs, acted as the EFTA Spokesperson in the Joint Committee.

The EFTA-Colombia FTA entered into force on 1 July 2011 for Colombia, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, 1 September 2014 for Norway and 1 October 2014 for Iceland. The Agreement has a broad coverage, notably including trade in goods, protection of intellectual property rights, trade in services, investment and government procurement.

The Joint Committee discussed the functioning of the Agreement and noted its mutually beneficial role in strengthening trade relations between the Parties. Apart from the administration of the Agreement and its adaptation to recent developments, discussions explored ways of fostering and diversifying commercial exchanges in areas pertaining to trade in goods and related customs issues, trade in services and investment, government procurement, as well as intellectual property. Furthermore, the Parties explored ways to include wide-ranging provisions on trade and sustainable development, as well as expanding cooperation projects between the Parties, with the aim to enhance the inclusiveness of trade relations.

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