Mercosur Day arrives every March as an opportunity to remember what happened three decades ago and look forward.
With this in mind, we recall that March 26 commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Asunción, which in 1991 gave rise to the process of commercial, cultural, political and social integration of the nations of South America.
By signing this instrument, the States Parties decided to establish a Common Market, formed on December 31, 1994, which was called "Common Market of the South" (MERCOSUR), which complies 33 years of its creation.
MERCOSUR was born from a regional integration process initially made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which was later joined by Venezuela (suspended since 2017) and Bolivia, which is in the process of joining.
Since its creation, one of the main objectives is to generate trade and investment opportunities through the competitive integration of national economies towards foreign markets. As a result of this objective, MERCOSUR has established multiple agreements with countries or groups of countries, whether commercial, political or cooperation-related. This situation of the bloc during the second half of 2020 and the year 2021, when Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil held the Pro Tempore Presidencies, is addressed in MERCOSUR Report No. 25, IDB-INTAL, September 2022.
Regional integration is a multidimensional process whose expressions include initiatives for coordination, cooperation, convergence and deep integration, and whose scope covers not only economic and commercial issues, but also political, social, cultural and environmental issues. This last issue is also alluded to in the cited report, which states that MERCOSUR has made some progress in environmental matters, establishing regional standards and/or cooperation in issues such as the transport of dangerous goods, chemical substances and products, environmental emergencies, polluting gases and waste and effluent management, to mention some examples. However, given the magnitude of the challenges in this area, which are common to the four countries, the same study considers it appropriate to design regional strategies in this regard.
For this reason, beyond the various stages in which the integration process may be found, one should not overlook the reflection on the importance of belonging to MERCOSUR with all that this implies, not only from the economic perspective, but also from the environmental and social point of view.
Each semester, as dictated by the mandates of the bloc, the Pro Tempore Presidency of MERCOSUR is exercised by one of its members following an alphabetical order. In this first semester of 2024, it is being exercised by the Republic of Paraguay, which coordinates and acts as the voice of the bloc during its exercise.
Of course, each presidency in office seeks to promote objectives and suggests the development of activities in order to achieve certain achievements in its administration. And on this occasion, among the most important objectives are focused - given the global context - on the economic aspect, that is, on seeking to improve trade exchange through the insertion of the bloc, promoting free trade agreements, among others. This agenda was reviewed on January 24 at the first session of the Commission of Permanent Representatives of MERCOSUR.
On the other hand, the Pro Tempore Presidency always reiterates the common objectives that have been sustained over time, which have more to do with customs instruments and trade facilitation, which is what most concerns commercial operators, such as the elimination of obstacles to trade and the free movement of goods and people by promoting the reduction of tariffs, the elimination of non-tariff barriers, the review of the AEC, and also the use of the advantages of geographical conditions tending to the reduction of transport costs and the implementation of common policies in other sectors of the economy.
The commemoration of MERCOSUR Day is a great opportunity to look ahead. In view of this, it is important to intensify efforts to ensure that MERCOSUR can be perceived as a process of joint work among its member countries. And it is with this in mind that these lines are presented.
Additionally, we recommend some publications on our site about progress in updating the MERCOSUR Origin Regime. We also highlight cooperation, exchange of information, data consultation and mutual assistance between the MERCOSUR Customs Administrations. In detail:
?The MERCOSUR Regime of Origin, hereinafter “ROM”, July 23, 2023 (here)
?INDIRA. The Customs Records Information Exchange System in MERCOSUR, January 5, 2023 (here)
Other suggested reading:
?MERCOSUR launches its customs data model based on the WCO standard and takes a leap forward in data exchange. OMA News 103, March 2024 (here)
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