At the II Summit of the Americas, held in Santiago, Chile in April 1998, the governments of Chile and the Central American countries - Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, announced their intent to negotiate a free trade agreement. Negotiations were launched in Managua, Nicaragua in August of that year, and, after five round of negotiations, the agreement was signed on 18 October, 1999
in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The agreement consists of a common set of disciplines, applicable to the relationship between Chile and each of the Central American countries, with bilateral protocols negotiated subsequently between Chile and each Central American country. As such, the agreement would enter into force in stages as bilateral negotiations concluded. Chile and Guatemala concluded negotiations on 14 September 2007. On 07 December 2007 they signed their bilateral protocol.
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