MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur is not working, good relations between two presidents ‘are not enough’

President Mujica again received complaints about Argentina’s attitude from Uruguayan exporters

President Jose Mujica admitted to Uruguayan manufacturers and farmers that with recurrent Argentine and Brazilian obstacles to trade “it’s very hard to make Mercosur function” and good relations between presidents “are not enough”.

Weighing carefully his words, Mujica admitted that presidents from Uruguay and Argentina get along very well and discuss bilateral issues in a distended atmosphere, but Uruguayan exporters face growing obstacles when trying to have access to the Argentine market, “and in spite of all the regional agreements”.

Mujica on Wednesday morning met with the Uruguayan Rural Association (ARU) and in the afternoon with the Industries Chamber. In both cases Argentine policies were present.

Farmers admitted to Mujica they fear a contagion of farm policies applied by President Cristina Fernandez in Argentina and pointed out that the extraordinary development of Uruguayan agriculture in the last decade has been in the framework of serious government policies, reliability and clear and stable rules of the game.

Thus, “the latest initiative promoted by President Mujica to tax landholders with over 2.000 hectares is an only one-time measure, or does it mean the beginning of a shift of policies?” asked farmers.

ARU also indicated that in the last decade many Argentine farmers moved to Uruguay for agriculture and cattle breeding while Brazilians have virtually taken over the rice business and meat industry processing.

“The overall evaluation of the meeting with Mujica was positive” said ARU president Jose Bonica adding that “we shared views on the world crisis, competitiveness, the exchange rate and relations with Argentina and Brazil”.

In the afternoon Mujica and the Minister of Industry Roberto Kreimerman met with the Chamber of Industries and talked about the growing difficulties to access the Argentine market, in spite of Mercosur and other bilateral agreements.

“We have an institutional problem with Mercosur; we have notoriously improved relations between the two presidents (Uruguay and Argentina), but we have this institutional backlog”, admitted President Mujica.

The Uruguayan leader has instructed his cabinet to take special care of relations with Argentina avoiding any statements that can cause political uproar. But every week his office receives complaints regarding conflicts with Argentina on trade, logistics, energy and environmental issues.

Mujica admitted that the good understanding with Cristina Kirchner is not reflected at other levels, precisely where they have to be implemented.

“Problems that crop up are addressed one by one president to president…but this is no way of operating because you can’t depend on the good spirits of two guys that get along well”, confessed Mujica.

“We need Mercosur tribunals and rulings that can make bilateral and regional relations fluid and effective”, Mujica insisted saying that the current situation causes problems to current and future dealings.

“In Mercosur we’re well behind in this area and a very serious problem for the future, because what matters for long term planning are the guarantees of effective operational institutions, and not the good chemistry between two presidents, at a certain period of time”.