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Mercosur

Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, is a customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It was originally set up in 1991. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have associate member status. Bolivia may be incorporated as a full member soon. In June 2006, Venezuela signed on as a full Mercosur member, although its membership still has to be ratified by the parliament of Paraguay.

As an instrument of subregional integration, Mercosur has been used to carry out important harmonization processes between the member states in areas such as intellectual property, agricultural policy and labour law. But the group is also plagued by internal conflicts.

Mercosur as a bloc is currently negotiating bilateral free trade agreements with other blocs such as CARICOM, the Andean Community, European Union, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is also seeking one with the Dominican Republic.

Mercosur signed an FTA with Israel in December 2007 (which entered into force in September 2011) and another with Palestine in December 2011 after the four members recognised its statehood.

The possibility of Uruguay’s “breaking away” from Mercosur to sign its own FTA with the United States has created enormous tension within the group (not to mention within Uruguay). A similar situation exists with Paraguay.

last update: May 2012


"To change Mercosur, you need to join first"
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has to enter the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) as a full member first, before starting to make reforms, as he has hinted he intends to do, said Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim in an interview daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo published on Sunday.
Mercosur trade bloc in limbo
South America’s 15-year-old Mercosur trade bloc — made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela — recently inaugurated a European Union-styled regional parliament here amid hopes by many Uruguayans that this capital will become ``the Brussels of South America.’’
Mercosur, “an illusion of integration”; Brazil no longer leads
Latinamerica has never been so divided, Mercosur is but an illusion of integration and Brazil has lost its leadership and convergence capacity according to former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso who ruled from 1995 to 2000.
Analysis of Mercosur Summit
Presidents Néstor Kirchner (Argentina), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brasil), Nicanor Duarte (Paraguay) y Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay) met at the Río de Janeiro summit between 18 & 19 January in order to advance and consolidate the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). The focus was less on institutional strengthening of the block but more on looking for mechanisms to resolve the deep asymmetry in trading relations between nations.
Uruguay threatens to downgrade Mercosur role
Uruguay has warned that it will consider downgrading its status in Mercosur if the regional trade bloc prevents it from making a bilateral trade deal with the US.
Mercosur: South America’s fractious trade bloc
’Does Mercosur have a political agenda?’ asks the Washington-based Council on Foreign Affairs.
Lula da Silva and Vazquez agree to another patch for Mercosur
Presidents from Uruguay and Brazil, meeting in Colonia Monday, seem to have smoothed strained economic and political ties with promises of stronger bilateral relations and a new boost to the battered Mercosur block, although Argentina, just fifty kilometers away was not present at the summit.
Uruguay signs a TIFA with the US: Will this mean an unraveling of Mercosur?
On January 25, Uruguay signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States that could ultimately dismantle Mercosur and isolate Uruguay in the southern cone.
Chávez, Morales seek transformation of MERCOSUR trade bloc
As South American presidents gathered in Rio de Janeiro this week to negotiate regional trade and integration strategies, including the possible ascension of Bolivia as a full member of the Southern Cone trade bloc MERCOSUR, Presidents Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales challenged the bloc to abandon its free market neoliberal roots.
Unification remains elusive at Mercosur
Discord at the two-day Mercosur summit that ended Friday left many to wonder about the future of a trade bloc that has never lived up to its promise of integrating much of South America into an influential body like the European Union.

    Links


  • MERCOSUR
    Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) is a common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
  • MERCOSUR website
    Official website of MERCOSUR, a common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (in Portuguese and Spanish)