MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Perú. Mercosur's next member.

Peru expects to join Mercosur this month in similar conditions as Chile and Bolivia that are associate members of the regional block. The announcement was made following the Mercosur and Andean Community, CAN, Foreign Secretaries summit held in Montevideo to speed the South American integration timetable.

"Negotiations are ongoing and we expect to sign a free trade agreement with Mercosur next August 25 when Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visits Lima", said Peru's Foreign Secretary Allan Wagner.

Apparently the stumbling block is agriculture, since Peruvian farmers fear the impact of efficient grain, beef and dairy production from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. However talks will continue in Montevideo this week in Montevideo and the following in Lima.

Peru has a population of 27 million and a GDP of approximately 54 billion US dollars, half Argentina's, but contrary to most of the continent, and in spite of the lack of political support for elected president Alejandro Toledo, the economy has been expanding at a greater speed than in Mercosur and CAN.

"Peru's economy has been consistently growing and its incorporation will mean a great export opportunity for Mercosur partners", said Argentine International Economic Relations Secretary Martín Redrado.

The agreement will basically establish a ten year period for the gradual elimination of import tariffs, beginning with industrial goods and followed by agriculture. Currently Mercosur's external tariff stands at 12% and Peru's at 14%.

In the Montevideo Mercosur and CAN meeting Foreign Secretaries agreed to a roadmap leading to the signing of a free trade association between both blocks by next December 31, an event that will be underlined during the coming presidential meeting in Asunción, Paraguay next August 15.

On that day elected Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarte will be taking office and nine South American presidents, plus Cuba's Fidel Castro, Guatemala's Alfonso Portillo and the heir of the Spanish throne will be participating in the summit.

The ultimate goal of these meetings is the Brazilian-Argentine sponsored South American integration project in preparation for crucial negotiations with the United States regarding the ambitious but controversial Free Trade Association of the Americas that theoretically will extend from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.