International Egg and Poultry Review: Colombia

COLOMBIA - This is a weekly report by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), looking at international developments concerning the poultry industry. This week's review looks at Colombia Free Trade Agreements.
calendar icon 8 June 2011
clock icon 4 minute read

Colombia is in various stages of negotiation on Free Trade Agreements with several countries, including the United States. Colombia's FTA with Switzerland will enter into force on 1 July 2011 and Colombia also expects to enter into an FTA with Canada by 1 July 2011. There is a pending FTA with the European Union; Colombia and the EU signed the final texts on 25 March 2011 and now must wait for the final process of translation and official approval of the agreement.

The US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA), sometimes call the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, was signed on 22 November 2006; Colombia's Congress approved the agreement and a protocol of amendment in 2007. In July 2008, Colombia's Constitutional Court completed its review and concluded that the Agreement conforms to Colombia's Constitution. The agreement immediately eliminates Colombia's use of Andean Price Bands (variable tariffs), thereby ensuring that Colombia stops applying high duties resulting from the application of this mechanism. The price band system affects more than 150 products, including poultry. Under the current price band system, the tariffs on these products vary with world prices and may reach up to Colombia’s WTO bound rates.

The CTPA includes volume-based agricultural safeguards for a limited number of products covered by Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs). The availability of using an agricultural safeguard expires when the tariff for that product has been phased out. The agricultural safeguard measure and the trigger level for each such good are set out below:

In 2010, the US exported $22 million of poultry and poultry products to Colombia. Colombia's WTO tariff bindings on poultry range from 70 to 209 per cent. Colombia's applied tariff rates range from five to 20 per cent on some products, while other products are subject to Colombia's price bands with tariffs ranging from zero per cent up to the WTO bound rate, depending on world prices.

Under CTPA, the US secures a 27,040-metric ton (MT) TRQ at zero duty with four per cent annual growth for chicken leg quarters. Colombia will phase out the out-of-quota tariff of 164.4 per cent for fresh, chilled, and frozen chicken leg quarters, as well as the 70 per cent out-of-quota tariff for processed chicken leg quarters over 18 years with a grace period during the first six years. Colombia will have access to a safeguard on chicken leg quarters in the event of an annual import surge during the 18-year tariff phase-out period.

Colombia will also establish a zero-duty, 412-MT TRQ with three per cent annual growth for 'spent fowl', typically post-production layers. The 45 per cent above-quota tariff on spent fowl will be phased out over 18 years. Colombia will have access to a safeguard on spent fowl in the event of an annual import surge during the 18-year tariff phase-out period. The Colombia TPA immediately eliminates tariffs on most other poultry products and on the rest within 10 years.
Source: Embassy of Colombia; Office of the US Trade Representative; USDA Foreign Agricultural Service; newswires







Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.
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