MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay-Mexico free trade accord.

Uruguayan and Mexican presidents Jorge Batlle and Vicente Fox signed this Saturday in Bolivia a free trade agreement, the first bilateral accord Mexico reaches with a Mercosur member country.

The agreement covers 93% of the "tariff universe", that is all "goods, services and investments, following the definitions of the World Trade Organization", said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Opertti.

The signing ceremony took place in the framework of the Ibero-american summit that was held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia including heads of state and government from Latinamerica, Spain and Portugal.

For the first time Uruguay will be able to export to Mexico "mineral water, shoes, sea food, a larger textiles quota particularly wool made garments, dairy products, including a 50% increase in the cheese quota, plus bicycles and motorcycles", indicated Mr. Opertti who recalled negotiations took over fifteen months.

"The agreement means we have a foot in the North America Free Trade Agreement, Nafta, and that Mexico can come to invest in Mercosur. We're offering Mexico our entire infrastructure, excellent communications and the platform of the main software exporter of the area".

Mr. Opertti revealed that bilateral trade at the moment was above 200 million US dollars but "it can rapidly double, particularly with the opening of the Mexican market to Uruguayan beef".

Further on Mr. Opertti said Uruguay's aim is that the Free Trade Association of the Americas, FTAA, be negotiated as "four plus one" (Mercosur plus United States), but "if this does not occur, we have in mind more bilateral agreements or expansion of the current ones".

"The main objective of our foreign policy is national interest, and if this means bilateral and or multilateral trade agreements, so we shall proceed", underlined Mr. Opertti.