Peru Free Trade Agreement ratified by Mexico’s senate
Peru This Week | December 16, 2011
Peru Free Trade Agreement ratified by Mexico’s senate
By Manuel Vigo
The Peru-Mexico Free Trade Agreement was ratified on Thursday, after Mexico’s Senate had initially rejected it on Wednesday.
Jose Luis Silva, Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade, said the agreement would come into effect during the first quarter of 2012.
“Yesterday, Mexico’s Congressional Trade and Industrial Development Committee rejected the trade agreement with Peru, but it has now been re-evaluated,” he told Andina news agency on Thursday.
Silva said the Senate held two new voting sessions: the first to amend the Committee’s initial vote, and the second to approve Free Trade Agreement.
The agreement was ratified with 55 votes in favor, 47 against and one abstention, he said.
The new trade agreement will cover 12,017 goods, and will replace the existing agreement, signed in 1987, which only covers 765 products, Mexico’s El Economista reported.
Mexico’s senate reportedly rejected the trade agreement over issues surrounding the country’s agricultural sector.
After news the agreement had not been ratified, Silva said the decision would "severely affect the deepening integration that had been brewing between Peru and Mexico."
Mexican Minister of Finance Bruno Ferrari said the decision had been the result of special interest lobbying groups.
Peru This Week | December 15, 2011
Peru free trade agreement rejected by Mexico’s senate
By Manuel Vigo
Peru’s government has said it is “concerned and upset” upon hearing that Mexico’s senate voted against ratifying the free trade agreement signed by both countries in April.
The agreement was supposed to come into effect in early 2012, according to a statement from Peru’s Ministry for Foreign Trade and Tourism.
Minister of Foreign Trade Jose Luis Silva regretted the decision and said it would "severely affect the deepening integration that had been brewing between Peru and Mexico."
"I do not understand how on one hand the Mexican government wants to promote trade by participating in multilateral agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership, while congress disapproves of a bilateral agreement. This affects Mexicans and Peruvians – it deteriorates confidence,” Silva said, according to RPP.
The new trade agreement would have covered 12,017 goods, and replaced the existing agreement, which was signed in 1987, and only covers 765 products, Mexico’s El Economista reported.
Mexico’s senate reportedly rejected the trade agreement over issues surrounding the country’s agricultural sector.
Mexican Minister of Finance Bruno Ferrari said the decision was the result of special interest lobbying groups.
"We are absolutely convinced that this agreement is beneficial for our country," said Ferrari, who called for the government to implement the agreement.
