EFTA and Chile Heads of delegation meet

A meeting of Heads of delegations from the EFTA States and Chile on the modernisation and expansion of the existing EFTA-Chile free trade agreement (FTA) was convened on 22 October 2020 via video conference. Erik Andreas Underland, Specialist Director at the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while Felipe Lopeandia, General Director of Bilateral Economic Affairs at the Chilean Undersecretariat of International Economic Affairs headed Chile’s delegation.

Heads of delegations took stock of the intersessional meetings at expert level, which had taken place from 9 to 22 October 2020, namely trade in goods, rules of origin, trade facilitation, financial services, intellectual property rights, government procurement, trade and sustainable development and legal and horizontal issues. Furthermore, Heads of delegations addressed technical barriers to trade, trade remedies and the institutional framework. Regarding the way forward, delegations will look into dates for meetings in spring 2021.

Bilateral trade between EFTA and Chile has grown strongly since the FTA entered into force in 2004. Excluding gold, EFTA’s imports from Chile have more than doubled from USD 109 million in 2004 to 230 million in 2019, while exports increased from 178 to 488 million over the same period. In total, trade has increased by 150% in the 16 years following the entry into force. EFTA’s main exports to Chile in 2019 included pharmaceuticals, machinery, medical instruments and watches, while fruits, inorganic chemicals, wine and fish oil were important imports.

Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and Chile here.

Find the Report of the meeting here.