The Mercosur Summit, a bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, started this Monday (29.06.2020) with thethe meetings of the Trade Group, the Forum for Consultation and Political Coordination (FCCP) and the "ad hoc" sugar group, among other points on the agenda, according to the Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration, Didier Olmedo, in a press conference.
This Summit, in which Paraguay will hand over the pro tempore presidency of the bloc to Uruguay, is the first that It is held by videoconference, as a result of the health and mobility restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the region, a topic that will also be the focus of discussions at this meeting.
The outbreak of the coronavirus conditioned the development of Mercosur activities during this semester, although the commercial activity of the bloc during this time maintained "a very important performance," according to Olmedo.
The Mercosur Trade Commission (CCM) will evaluate these six months, during which two ordinary meetings and three extraordinary meetings were held, at its meeting on Monday.
The CCM will submit more than 30 regulations to higher bodies for approval, "most of them linked to tariff issues to address the particular situation generated by the pandemic".
In the afternoon, the FCCP will address political issues and joint communiqués by the participating countries and associated states will also be drafted.
Sugar sector talks
Sugar is one of the products that has restrictions on free trade within the bloc.
At this Summit, Paraguay has proposed to call on the rest of its partners to "conduct a survey of the production system, of agricultural issues related to sugar production," as Olmedo pointed out.
However, the deputy minister clarified that this will not imply "a prejudgment of the possibilities of incorporation into Mercosur."
«We want exchange information and have a more cooperative approach, to exchange successful experiences in relation to the sector," added the vice minister.
Brazil is one of the world's leading sugar producers and the sector receives significant state subsidies, an issue that raises concerns in the rest of the bloc, particularly in Argentina, when it comes to allowing free trade of this product within Mercosur.
Source: Reuters
#MERCOSURSummit ?? | The Deputy Minister of Economic Relations and Integration, Didier Olmedo, gives a press conference to start the deliberations of the #MERCOSUR.https://t.co/hGLHpM0pqa
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@mreparaguay) June 29, 2020
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