Continuing the negotiations towards a Free Trade Agreement, MERCOSUR and EFTA –which comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland– held an Intersessional Meeting at the Palacio San Martín of the Argentine Foreign Ministry on 17-18 October.
On this occasion, the Chief Negotiators of both sides met in order to better understand the main interests of both blocs in the negotiation and to exchange opinions on their market access expectations.
MERCOSUR and EFTA agreed that the market access offers of each side must be based on real opportunities of access to the markets concerned.
The MERCOSUR delegation was headed by the Undersecretary for Economic Integration with the Americas and MERCOSUR of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Victorio Carpintieri. In turn, the EFTA delegation was headed by the Director General of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Jan Farberg.
At the lunch offered to the delegations by the Secretary for International Economic Relations, Horacio Reyser Travers, both sides analyzed the steps to be taken in order to sustain negotiations over time and ultimately reach a balanced agreement in the short term.
The activities were held in a constructive environment and the delegations significantly improved their mutual understanding of their negotiation methods.
Both delegations agreed to hold the 3rd Round of Negotiations in a MERCOSUR member country in April 2018. MERCOSUR and EFTA will exchange access offers to goods markets 30 days before the meeting.
Press release No. 464/17
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