Guatemala City, March 10 - Central American coffee producers said on Monday they want their roasted and soluble coffees to enter the European Union (EU) tariff-free as part of ongoing trade negotiations between the two regions.
"The coffee institutions and producers want the elimination of tariffs on Central American coffees ... which currently have tariffs that range from 7.5 to 11.5 percent," representatives from coffee organizations in Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras said in a joint statement.
Central American coffee growing countries ship about 5 million 60-kg bags of coffee to the EU each year, or 16 percent of their total exports, the growers said.
Currently, the green coffee from the region enters the EU duty free but roasted and instant coffee, as well as ready-made coffee drinks with milk and sugar, are subject to tariffs.
Central America is currently in free-trade talks with the EU. The region's presidents are meeting this week in Costa Rica to define a negotiating strategy for the next round of talks in April and the coffee growers want coffee on the agenda.
"Right now all we are doing is asking, we have not analyzed what we are going to offer," Christian Rasch, the president of Guatemala's national coffee association Anacafe, told Reuters.
Central America recently finalized a regional free trade deal with the United States and now wants a similar agreement with its European trading partners.
Banana-growing countries in the region complain that Europe gives preferential access to bananas grown in its former Africa and Caribbean colonies, one potential sticking point for trade negotiations.
The coffee producers also asked that the EU recognize the role of coffee farms in environmental conservation. The EU has consistently opposed carbon credits for commercial agricultural activities, including crops like coffee that grow beneath forests, in global climate change talks.