The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Peru and the European Union (EU), on which negotiations ended last weekend in Brussels, could come into force at the beginning of 2012, Peruvian Exterior Commerce and Tourism Minister Martin Perez said on Monday.
"The enforcement will take some years and we estimate that in the best of cases, it will be valid in 2012," Perez said.
"This is a complex and mixed FTA. Let us remember that there are 27 member countries in the EU and it has to be approved by their congresses," Perez added.
The final agreement on the FTA will be signed by both sides on May 2010 at the 6th summit of heads of state and government of Latin America and the Caribbean-EU, to be held in Madrid, Spain.
Perez said Peruvian exports to the EU could increase about 10 percent per year once the FTA is in force, considering the fact it is a market of 500 million people.
Exports in the sectors of fishing, agriculture and textiles, which generate a lot of jobs, will benefit from the FTA, Perez said.
Perez said both sides also agreed to set up a group of experts to make suggestions to the authorities on ways to boost sustainable trade and development.