Aragón & Aragón / Guatemala Law Firm

The DR-CAFTA was signed by the Republics of Dominican Republic, Central America and United States, and is the first regional treaty signed, in which the partners had economic disadvantages, in benefit of the business seeker.

The 24 of September of 2001, within the framework of IX the Meeting of the Committee of Commercial Negotiations of the ALCA, a meeting between five countries of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) and the United States with the intention of discussing possible ways to deepen the bilateral relations in commercial and investment. To such effects, the 27 of November, begun the discussions of technical character within the frame of the designated exploratory phase like “Dialogue of Commercial Policy C.A. - The USA”. The 16 of January of 2002, the President of the United States raised before the Congress, his intention to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Central American countries. The Congress of the United States was notified formally of the intention to begin the negotiations the 1rst of October of 2002. The Central American governments, on the other hand, deepened their coordination to face the negotiations and decided a common strategic frame.

The DR-CAFTA is the first negotiated interregional agreement between commercial partners with evident inequalities, considering that the combined internal gross product of Central America equals to a 0,5 percent of the American GIP. The DR-CAFTA requires the liberalization of the market stops most of the goods and Central American services- including agriculture, the manufacture, the services public, and the governmental power of attorney. Of its part, the USA, it has promised to increase the access to the market for certain sectors, including textiles and a limited increase of the quotas of sugar. Any rigorous investigation has not been made on the impact of the CAFTA in Central America. The Central Americans have to judge the impact based on the ten years of CAFTA. The analysts anticipate that - equal to which it happened in Mexico - CAFTA will attract foreign direct investments and will increase the exports in certain sectors, but will provide little benefit to the poor men with the countryside and urban of the region.

The CAFTA comes to provide commercial benefits in the areas that the treaty regulates, integrating procedures and anticipating the conflict resolution of friendly and extrajudicial way, being the main beneficiaries the retailers who integrate the countries that subscribed this treaty, anticipating that obtains commercial advantages in their patrimony.

In intellectual and industrial property, the treaty force the Estates to ratify several treaties related to this matter. Non national norm can be under the dispose of the treaties to ratify. The norm search to protect the owners of intellectual property rights, always and when this rights are register. In trademark matters, the treaty dispose that the owners will be treated in the same conditions as the nationals owners, this means, that they will be able to claim for their rights when this are violeted. The trademark registy must be public established in each Estate, giving equal facilities and proteccions, to nationals and foreigners.

In Aragón & Aragón we are prepared to confront the productive change that offers the treaty and with optimism we hoped that he is beneficial for all those that are reconciled to this integration. We promote and we are conscious that the regionalization will benefit and offer to opportunities of all nature to the citizens and retailers, but to remove the greater benefit, we must be prepared, and to know the tools whereupon we can count. We offer our law firm to advice you in the different themes of the treaty, that may be of your concern, contact us.