Notícias
Conclusion of Negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between Brazil and Chile – Santiago, October 16-19, 2018
The negotiations on a free trade agreement between Brazil and Chile were concluded yesterday, October 19, in Santiago, after four rounds of talks. The negotiation process began on April 27, during a visit by President Sebastián Piñera to Brasília.
The future agreement, to be signed before the end of this year, complements the Economic Complementation Agreement no. 35 between MERCOSUR and Chile, under which the two countries have already eliminated import tariffs on bilateral trade. In all, the new agreement will include 17 non-tariff issues, such as services trade, e-commerce, telecommunication, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical obstacles to trade, trade facilitation, intellectual property, and micro, small and medium-sized businesses. Other agreements recently signed by the two countries, including the Government Procurement Protocol and the Investments in Financial Institutions Protocol, will also be added to the free trade agreement.
The new agreement will help boost trade and investment flows between Brazil and Chile in the goods and services sectors. It will also promote the rapprochement between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance and stimulate regional integration.
As an example of the concrete outcomes of the agreement, Brazil and Chile committed to waiving international mobile roaming charges for both data and voice services between the two countries. This is the first time that Brazil takes on commitments, through a bilateral trade agreement, on e-commerce, good regulatory practices; transparency in anti-corruption transparency; regional and global value chains; genre; environment; and labor affairs.
Chile is the second largest trading partner of Brazil in South America and an important destination for Brazilian investments in the region. In 2017, bilateral trade totaled 8.5 billion dollars, accounting for an increase of 22% over the same period in 2016. Between January and September 2018, trade between the two countries reached 7.21 billion dollars, an increase of more than 13% over the same period in 2017. Brazil is the largest trading partner of Chile in Latin America and the main destination for Chilean investments abroad, with a stock of 31 billion dollars.