Tuesday, August 3rd 2010 - 06:28 UTC

Mercosur signs trade accord with Egypt; Venezuela/Colombia conflict out of the agenda

Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman set in motion the 39th Mercosur Summit during which Argentina informed of the results obtained under its pro-tempore presidency of the bloc in the first six months of the year.

Argentine chancellor Hector Timerman

Issues such as customs union, regional infrastructure and productive integration were discussed in the province of San Juan where the meeting is being held. A free-trade agreement was signed with Egypt and Venezuela and Colombia's “broken ties” appeared as a floating topic among those to-be-discussed issues, as it was decided not to establish the matter as “part of the agenda.”

The plenary session was presided by Timerman, along with his colleagues from Brazil, Celso Amorim; Uruguay, Luis Almagro; and Paraguay, Héctor Lacognata. Also in attendance were members of the Economy Ministers Council, such as Amado Boudou (Argentina), Fernando Lorenzo (Uruguay), Guido Mantega (Brazil), and Dionisio Borda (Paraguay).

The trade agreement signed with Egypt is expected to open a market of 76 million consumers to primary and industrialized products from Mercosur. With the agreement, the majority of Mercosur exports to Egypt will enter free of tariffs beginning immediately, Argentine Industry Minister Débora Giorgi said from San Juan province.

Mercosur, a potent agriculture producer integrated by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, is also a world automotive and auto-parts producer.

”New opportunities in products that we currently don't sell (to Egypt), such as vehicles, auto-parts, pharmaceutical drugs, paper products, chicken, and fruits, among others, will open up,“ Giorgi detailed.

Egyptian Industry and Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid participated in the agreement's negotiations.

The trade agreement orders the removal of tariffs, differentiating between four groups of products according the set time-line. In the first group, which encompasses meats, butter, wheat, corn, oils and valves, the elimination of tariffs is to be applied immediately. In the second group, which includes milk and industrial goods, the elimination time-limit will be within the next four years. The third and fourth groups are to be without tariffs eight to ten years from now, respectively.

Argentina highlighted that its most important achievement during its pro-tempore presidency was the ”re-launching of negotiations with the European Union with the objective of reaching an Inter-regional Association Agreement“ said the Foreign Ministry informed.

Buenos Aires also estimates that during the summit, ”the elimination of the double recovery of the common external tariff and the mechanism of distribution of customs revenue” is to be established, after more than five years of negotiations between the members of the bloc.

Mercosur presidents are scheduled to meet Tuesday to wrap up the two-day negotiations.
 

22 comments Feed

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1 Think (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 06:59 am Report abuse
Good News (again)

“With the agreement, the majority of Mercosur exports to Egypt will enter free of tariffs beginning immediately.......”
2 Hoytred (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 08:33 am Report abuse
Does Egypt know about Argentina's 'hidden' import barriers ?
3 Think (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 08:40 am Report abuse
Man....
Read the article...
We are not importing nothing.....
That is the trade balance we like......
4 Hoytred (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 09:13 am Report abuse
ahhh, one of those Treaties we talked about .... ;-)
5 Think (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 09:19 am Report abuse
Not our fault...
They don't want to sell the Pyramids...
And all the other good stuff has been stolen by the British Museum....
6 Hoytred (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 11:57 am Report abuse
Don't whinge if you come late to the table :-)
7 Think (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 12:29 pm Report abuse
Let the “Revenge of the Mummy” fall over the infidels..........
8 harrier61 (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 10:14 pm Report abuse
Egypt has lots of sand! What will they send to Argentina? Argentines are infidels!!
9 fredbdc (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 11:31 pm Report abuse
Other than farm products waht does Argentina have to offer that they can't get cheaper from China or better quality from EU pr USA?
10 Forgetit87 (#) Aug 03rd, 2010 - 11:55 pm Report abuse
It seems to be auto parts. Argentina has an advanced auto industry. Their auto products are cheap and are of high quality (if it weren't, why would the US buy them?) As for the Chinese, I believe they sell it really cheap too, but I don't know, perhaps Egypt doesn't want to open its markets to the them. By the way, last month Syria's president visited Brazil and Argentina. It seems the Middle-East/North Africa countries are anxious to make new arrangements; perhaps they want to avoid being overly dependent on a single bloc of countries (like Mexico is on the US; Turkey is on the EU, etc.)
11 Think (#) Aug 04th, 2010 - 08:50 am Report abuse
(9) fredbdc
Other than farm products.....

I luuuuuuuuv this deprecating approach from people that pretend to be “economically intelligent!”
The most important commodity in the world: F O O D
How long can one survive without an Iphone?
How long without a Rolex?
How long without a BMW?
How long without Food?

Other than farm products..... Hahhhhhhhhh.....
12 harrier61 (#) Aug 04th, 2010 - 10:12 am Report abuse
But South American foodstuffs are sub-standard by virtue of their reliance on GM, toxins, growth hormones.
13 Billy Hayes (#) Aug 04th, 2010 - 05:02 pm Report abuse
sub standard?? jajajaja what are you talking about?? do you want to talk about food quality?? why don´t we start talking about mad cow disease and its origin??
14 harrier61 (#) Aug 04th, 2010 - 07:06 pm Report abuse
Mad cow disease is a DISEASE. Whilst what South Americans do is to deliberately tamper with foodstuffs. This is why the European Union demands strict compliance with regulations on foodstuffs. Perhaps I should have said sub-European standard.
15 Think (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 08:19 am Report abuse
Didn’t noticed this poster ” ingenuous,innocent and simple naivety“ ......until now...........

“Mad cow disease is a DISEASE” he says..........

Yeahhhhhh.......Right..........
Caused by feeding Cattle with the grinded remains of sick pigs, sheep and cows...............
European standarts...... Yeahhhhh.......Right........
For the ones interested:
In June 2010, the Farmer Lobby at the EU has presented a legislation that will allow to start feeding pigs on the same manner.

Enjoy your sausage.......
16 harrier61 (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 09:34 am Report abuse
EU will still refuse to accept South American foodstuffs not produced in accordance with EU regulations.
17 Think (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 10:23 am Report abuse
Perspectivizing a brainwashed Britain:

Mad Cow Disease (CFJ) has killed more than 1.500 Britons since 1990.....
www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/figures.htm
Six (6) times more than the Malvinas Conflict.....
20 years later Britain is making the same mistake again.....
Watch it......
18 harrier61 (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 02:07 pm Report abuse
The Falklands War in 1982 killed 649 Argentines........
28 years later, Argentina is still making the same mistakes..........
Watch it......
19 Think (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 02:20 pm Report abuse
Precisely the opposite my dear fellow....... precisely the opposite......
20 harrier61 (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 08:28 pm Report abuse
Argentina is just a failed colony, hanging on by its fingertips, old boy......
21 stick up your junta (#) Aug 07th, 2010 - 08:42 pm Report abuse
Traffic accidents in Argentina have been claiming an average of 20 lives a day over the past decade, making it the top country in Latin America for these tragedies. They are also the main cause of death among people under 35, but in spite of this there are no official plans to end the slaughter on the roads.

Mad driver disease
22 harrier61 (#) Aug 08th, 2010 - 04:06 pm Report abuse
I heard Argentine cars are very stable. Square wheels?

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