A government spokesman for the Czech Republic has said that CEFTA (the Central European Free Trade Agreement) is becoming divided by the pace of agricultural liberalisation in the different member countries.

Libor Roucek said that the supplementary protocol on further liberalisation of agricultural commodities, signed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary meant that these countries are progressing at a faster speed in the removal of trade barriers, while those remaining prefer to keep the current state of affairs.

Differences of opinion were clear at the October meeting of CEFTA’s committee for agriculture. The result was that all countries agreed that members may conclude agreements on a bilateral basis if they so desire.

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