MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile and Mercosur.

At the end of a three days official visit to Uruguay, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos clearly outlined the two sides of the Mercosur membership his country has been courting with for the last few years.

"It's impossible for us to adapt to the current Mercosur tariff convergence since our external tariffs are lower and it would make no sense to hike them again" said President Lagos addressing the Uruguayan General Assembly, a message which he later repeated in meetings with local businessmen. But Mr. Lagos did emphasize that Chile was very much interested in "political understandings", that lead to a better defence of the region's economic and political interests, in dealings with other blocks.

"The fundamental issue is how do we insert ourselves and the region in the world, and if Mercosur is the mechanism, welcome, we want to join", pointed out President Lagos, warning that "if each of our countries acts individually, we're not going to get very far".

In line with this basic idea and confirming Chile's interest in joining a ""political" Mercosur, Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle and Mr. Lagos signed a joint declaration insisting in the necessity "to preserve the convergence of macroeconomic policies", avoiding sudden disruptive currency devaluations "that alter collective previously organised targets".

Presidents Lagos and Batlle also agreed that Mercosur needs an effective institutional framework including a technical Secretariat and courts for trade disputes and litigations, instead "of presidents on the phone whenever conflicts of this nature emerge".Chile's current external tariffs average 9% and will experience a further reduction next year. Mercosur common external tariff schedule is at least five years behind Chile's.