Brussels, 08/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy' spokesman, Anthony Gooch, declared that the ninth round of EU-Chile negotiations for an Association Agreement and free trade had made "notable progress". He added that fishing still remains a "thorny issue". The objective is to carry out a joint venture under Chilean jurisdiction that would allow European fishermen (essentially the Spanish) to have access to Chilean territorial waters. Progress was essentially notched up on the resolution of differences involving rules of origin and public sector markets. The spokes man indicated that new proposals had been put forward in the agriculture and services sectors. According to Mr Gooch, discussions had allowed them to come close to a solution on regional labelling for wines and spirits. The two sides are hoping that the next round of negotiations in April in Brussels will allow these final differences to be resolved and pave the way for an agreement at the EU/Latin American Summit on 17-18 May in Madrid.