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Mercosur

The Southern Common Market,[a] commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur, and Portuguese Mercosul, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is a full member but has been suspended since 1 December 2016. Associate countries are Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.[5]

Southern Common Market
  • Spanish:Mercado Común del Sur
    Portuguese:Mercado Comum do Sul
    Guarani:Ñemby Ñemuha

Mercado Común del Sur

Mercado Común del Sur

Mercado Comum do Sul

Ñemby Ñemuha

1 suspended
7 associated
2 observers

30 November 1985

6 July 1990

26 March 1991

16 December 1994

14,869,775[1] km2 (5,741,252 sq mi) (2ndb)

1.0

Increase 295,007,000[2] (5thb)

23/km2 (59.6/sq mi) (204thb)

2022 estimate

Increase US$5.195 trillion[3] (6thb)

US$18,987[3] (78thb)

2022 estimate

Increase US$2.638 trillion[3] (8thb)

US$9,643[3] (79thb)

Increase 0.788[4]
high (70tha)

4 currencies

UTC-2 to UTC-5

dd/mm/yyyy (CE)

Mercosur's origins are linked to the discussions for the constitution of a regional economic market for Latin America, which go back to the treaty that established the Latin American Free Trade Association in 1960, which was succeeded by the Latin American Integration Association in the 1980s. At the time, Argentina and Brazil made progress in the matter, signing the Iguaçu Declaration (1985), which established a bilateral commission, which was followed by a series of trade agreements the following year. The Integration, Cooperation and Development Treaty, signed between both countries in 1988, set the goal of establishing a common market, which other Latin American countries could join. Paraguay and Uruguay joined the process and the four countries became signatories to the Treaty of Asunción (1991), which established the Southern Common Market, a trade alliance aimed at boosting the regional economy, moving goods, people among themselves, workforce and capital. Initially a free trade zone was established, in which the signatory countries would not tax or restrict each other's imports. As of 1 January 1995, this area became a customs union, in which all signatories could charge the same quotas on imports from other countries (common external tariff). The following year, Bolivia and Chile acquired membership status. Other Latin American nations have expressed interest in joining the group.


Mercosur's purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. Since its foundation, Mercosur's functions have been updated and amended many times; it currently confines itself to a customs union, in which there is free intra-zone trade and a common trade policy between member countries. In 2023, the Mercosur had generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) (PPP) of around 5.7 trillion US dollars, placing the bloc as the 5th largest economy in the world. The bloc places high on the human development index.

The free movement of goods, services and productive factors between countries, through the elimination of customs duties and non-tariff restrictions on the movement of goods and any other measure to the same effect, with the establishment of a common external tariff and the adoption of a common commercial policy towards third countries or economic blocs;

Products originating in the territory of a signatory country will have, in another signatory country, the same treatment applied to products of national origin;

The coordination of foreign trade, agricultural, industrial, fiscal, monetary, foreign exchange and capital policies, of others that are agreed, in order to ensure adequate conditions of competition between members, with the commitment of these countries to harmonize their legislation, especially in areas of general importance, to strengthen the integration process;

In relations with non-signatory countries, members of the bloc will ensure equal conditions of trade. In this way, they will apply their national laws to inhibit imports whose prices are influenced by subsidies, dumping or any other unfair practice. At the same time, the bloc's countries will coordinate their respective national policies in order to develop common rules on trade competition.

Mount Aconcagua in Argentina

Mount Aconcagua in Argentina

The Amazon rainforest in Brazil

The Amazon rainforest in Brazil

Lake Iporá in Uruguay

Lake Iporá in Uruguay

Gran Chaco in Paraguay

Gran Chaco in Paraguay

The Salto Ángel falls in Venezuela

The Salto Ángel falls in Venezuela

The territory of Mercosur consists of the combined territories of six of the 12 countries of South America and their population. Including the overseas territories of member states, Mercosur experiences most types of climate from Antarctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for Mercosur as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a subtropical climate (Uruguay, Southern Paraguay, Northeastern and Center Argentina and Southern and Southeastern Brazil), or a tropical climate (Venezuela and Northeastern Brazil). The Mercosur member states are home to the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela; the largest river by volume, the Amazon River in Brazil; the longest mountain range, the Andes (whose highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962 m or 22,841 ft in Argentina); the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil; and much more if we take the associated members into account, such as the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia; the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca in Peru; the driest non-polar place on earth, the Atacama Desert;[38][39][40] and, excluding research stations in Antarctica, the world's southernmost permanently inhabited community, Puerto Toro, Chile.


One Mercosur full member, Argentina, has a claim to Antarctica called Argentine Antarctica (part of the province of Tierra del Fuego) which partially overlaps with the claim of Mercosur-associated state Chile, namely Chilean Antarctica. Brazil does not formally claim any part of Antarctic territory, but has a "zone of interest" called Brazilian Antarctica which overlaps Argentina's claim.

Commercial matters

Customs matters

Technical standards

Tax and monetary policies relating to trade

Land transport

Sea transport

Industrial and technology policies

Agricultural policy

Energy policy

Coordination of macroeconomic policies

Labor, employment and social security matters

Mercosur is composed of five sovereign member states: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela (suspended since December 2016); seven associated states: Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, the latter being in the process of joining as a full member state (since 17 July 2015);[41] plus two observer states: Mexico and New Zealand.


Following the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo by the Paraguayan Senate, Paraguay was suspended from Mercosur. Shortly afterwards, Venezuela was admitted as a full member on 31 July 2012.[42] Venezuela had four years to fully adapt to the trade bloc regulations and failed to do so, with the nation being suspended from Mercosur on 1 December 2016.[28]


Directly subordinated to the Common Market Group, the work subgroups draw up the minutes of the decisions to submit for the consideration of the council, and study specific Mercosur concerns. The work subgroups are:


Work subgroups are held quarterly, alternating in every member state, in alphabetical order, or at the Common Market Group Administrative Office. Activities are carried out by the Work Subgroups in two stages: preparatory and conclusive. In the preparatory stage, members of the Work Subgroups may request the participation of representatives from the private sector of each member state. The decision-making stage is reserved exclusively for official representatives of the member states. The delegations of representatives from the private sector in the preparatory stage of the Work Subgroup activities will have a maximum of three representatives for each member state directly involved in any of the stages of the production, distribution or consumption process for the products that fall within the scope of the subgroup's activities.,

Demographics[edit]

Population[edit]

Mercosur has a population of 284 million among its full member states. The region has several areas of sparse demographics such as tropical forests and deserts, but it is also highly urbanized with the presence of two alpha citiesSão Paulo and Buenos Aires – and several beta cities such as Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, etc. The population is diverse, comprising people of European, Africans and Indigenous descent. People of Afro-Latin American descent tend to be concentrated in Brazil and Uruguay, with a smaller, but historic Afro-Argentine community in Argentina and an emerging population in Chile, the latter largely of Haitian origin. There is a high percentage of mestizos that vary greatly in composition by place. There is also a smaller population of Asians, notably in Brazil. The white population forms a majority in Argentina and Uruguay and represents about 45 percent in Brazil. Mestizos form the majority population in Paraguay, making it distinct from its immediate neighbors.[47] Almost all Mercosur nations have significant indigenous American populations, especially in Paraguay (Guaraní is a national language in the country along with Spanish, and almost all Paraguayans have Guaraní genetic ancestry), Argentina (especially in the Northwest and Southwest of The country), Brazil (in the Northern and Northwest Amazonian states of the nation, where Native American tribes have vast reservation lands).

If in regard to items, this the place where they were at the time of contract signing.

If effectiveness is related to any special place, this is the place where they were to produce effects.

In all other cases, this is the place of domicile of the debtor at the time of contract signing. For purposes of application of second item above for determination of the domicile of the respondent in a contractual dispute involving individuals, the following will be taken into consideration: The habitual residence: On a subsidiary basis, the central place of business; and In the absence of any such considerations, the place where found, meaning the actual residence. When dealing with a legal entity, the determination of the domicile will be based on where the administrative headquarters have been set up. The claim plaintiff can, as an alternative, file in any of the places where the legal entity has branches, establishments, agencies or any other type of representation. Legal entities headquartered in any member state that have concluded contracts with any other member state can be sued in the courts of the latter state should there be any dispute as to the construction and implementation of the obligations regulated by contract. In the event there is a codefendant, a suit on contractual matters can be adjudicated with the courts of jurisdiction in the territory of the domicile of any of the parties to the litigation. Additionally, any claims entailing personal rights or intervention of nonmember states in contractual obligations can be filed with the court hearing the main proceeding.

collateral

Argentina: ownership of real estate on the frontier strip, air transportation, naval industry, nuclear power plants, uranium mining, insurance and fishery;

Brazil: mineral prospecting and mining; use of ; health care; television and radio broadcasting and telecommunications in general, acquisition or leasing of rural properties; participation in the financial intermediation, insurance, social security and capitalization systems; chartering and cabotage as well as inland navigation;

hydraulic energy

Paraguay: ownership of real property on the frontier strip; communications, including radio and television broadcasting; air, sea and land transportation; electricity, water and telephone services; prospecting for hydrocarbons and strategic minerals; import and refining of petroleum derivatives and postal services;

Uruguay: electricity; hydrocarbons; basic petrochemicals, atomic energy; prospecting for strategic minerals; financial intermediation; railways, telecommunications; radio broadcasting; press and audiovisual means.

Citizenship of the Mercosur

Andean Community

Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas

Central American Common Market

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States

Free Trade Area of the Americas

Gaucho (currency)

Pacific Alliance

(UNASUR)

Union of South American Nations

Road Network of the MERCOSUR

List of country groupings

List of multilateral free-trade agreements

Rules of Origin

Free-trade area

Market access

Copa Mercosur

Arieti, Samuel A. The Role of MERCOSUR as a Vehicle for Latin American Integration, , vol. 6 (2005/2006), pp. 761–773.

Chicago Journal of International Law

Gómez-Mera, Laura. "Lessons from Latin America: MERCOSUR." in Region-Building in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016). 297–312.

Luca Gardini, Gian. "Who Invented Mercosur?." Diplomacy and Statecraft 18.4 (2007): 805–830.

Malamud, Andrés. "Presidentialism and Mercosur: a hidden cause for a successful experience." in Comparative Regional Integration (Routledge, 2018). 73–94.

online

Rivera, Salvador. Latin American Unification: A History of Political and Economic Integration Efforts. (McFarland Press, 2014).

Rivera, Salvador. "Jacob K. Javits and Latin American Economic Integration." Cuaderno de Negocios Internacionales e Integración. 13 no. 64/65 July–December 2007.

Edit this at Wikidata (in English, Spanish, and Portuguese)

Official website

Radio Mercosur – website and radio online