The European Union (EU) was keeping a "firm hand" on the negotiations with Central American countries, the spokesman for these nations and Costa Rica's chief negotiator Roberto Echandi said Friday, quoted by the newspaper LaNacion.
Both sides have not reached any agreements on product access since the negotiations started Monday, the newspaper said.
The Central American countries wanted to negotiate with the EU on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), under which they could export to the 27 EU member states with lower or no tariffs, especially on agricultural products.
However, the EU side failed to put the GSP issue on the agenda of this negotiation, thus resulting in the disagreement.
The EU side "wants to part from the tariff they apply to the world," Echandi said, adding, "That is where we are having our first confrontations, certainly very strong ones. It is completely unacceptable for us."
Source: Xinhua
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