Within the context of the 13th Pacific Alliance Summit held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (23-24 July), MERCOSUR countries and Colombia signed the 1st Additional Protocol to Economic Complementarity Agreement No. 72 (ACE 72) on Trade in Services.
On behalf of Argentina, the agreement was signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Raimondi, while the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, María Lorena Gutiérrez Botero, signed on behalf of Colombia. ACE 72 was already in force bilaterally between Colombia and each of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The goal of the parties was to expand the scope of the Agreement to other areas such as trade in services.
The Protocol consists of main provisions establishing a regulatory framework related to measures affecting trade in services and is complemented with specific annexes on Financial Services, Telecommunications, Payments and Capital Flows and Movement of Natural Persons.
The agreement will afford more and better access opportunities and national treatment in the Colombian service market to MERCOSUR members in a wide range of sectors and activities, which include services rendered to companies, postal services, telecommunication services, construction and engineering services, distribution, education, financial, tourism and transport services.
The agreement is also a tool to provide predictability and transparency in the conditions governing trade in services between MERCOSUR Member States and Colombia.
The signing of the agreement occurs within the context of a substantial schedule of trade negotiations of MERCOSUR with the European Union, Canada, EFTA, Korea and the recently announced negotiation with Singapore, all of which promote a better integration of Argentina into the global economy.