LIMA, Feb. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The five-nation Andean community has agreed to create a special tariff regime with the European Union (EU) to ease the path to a free trade agreement, the regional bloc said in a statement published here on Thursday.

    Trade ministers of the Andean Community, made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, reached the agreement during a regular session of the Andean group commission at its headquarters in Lima which began on Monday.

    The agreement entails a special High Level Group for a common tariff policy as a starting point.

    Community Secretary-General Allan Wagner hailed the agreement as a step forward in defining a common tariff policy.

    The group is due to meet seven times in 2006 with the deadline set on Dec. 4 for the Andean group commission to adopt the new common tariff rules. Enditem