Mercosur

• Tuesday, September 14th 2010 - 02:57 UTC

  Uruguay feels Mercosur is a diplomatic club, still too distant from the people

  

  Mercosur is currently a “Foreign Affairs ministries club” which has failed in getting people involved in the integration idea and process, said Uruguayan Foreign Secretary Luis Almagro during a press conference Monday at Government House.

• Monday, September 13th 2010 - 22:17 UTC

  EU Trade commissioner in Brazil to advance trade talks with Mercosur

  

  European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is expected in Brazil to advance trade talks with Mercosur. Brazil currently holds the Mercosur rotating chair. The top EU official will visit Argentina later in the week.

• Saturday, September 4th 2010 - 05:40 UTC

  Mercosur and India discussing expansion of current tariffs agreement

  

  Indian Industry and Commerce Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India and Mercosur are discussing the possibility to expand a current agreement on tariffs.

• Saturday, September 4th 2010 - 05:36 UTC

  South Korea confirms interest in free trade talks with Mercosur

  

  South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy is seeking to launch bilateral trade talks with Mercosur in a move to deepen links with Latinamerica according to a report from the Yonhap news agency.

• Thursday, September 2nd 2010 - 21:08 UTC

  Argentina calls on Mercosur to become world’s main agro-food business region

  

  Argentine president Cristina Kirchner called on Mercosur partners to convert the group into the world’s leading agro-food business region and to put an end to asymmetries.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 19:04 UTC

  Canada satisfied with first contacts for trade agreement with Mercosur

  

  Canada is “satisfied” with contacts held with the Argentine government for the possible beginning of discussions regarding a free trade agreement with Mercosur, said Canadian International Trade minister Peter Van Loan said at the end of a tour of four Latin American countries

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 02:48 UTC

  Lifting Mercosur out of its “institutional paralysis”, Rousseff’s main challenge

  

  Consolidating South American integration would be the main foreign policy priority of the Brazilian ruling party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff if public opinion polls are confirmed at the ballot box next October 3 and she emerges as the successor of Lula da Silva.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 00:43 UTC

  Canada, South Africa, India in preliminary trade talks with Mercosur

  

  Canada, South Africa and India are scheduled to begin this year trade talks with Mercosur, according to reports from Ottawa and Johannesburg.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 00:31 UTC

  Amorim admits Brazil imposes non-trade barriers to its Mercosur associates

  

  Foreign Affairs minister Celos Amorim implicitly admitted that access to the Brazilian market for other Latin American countries, including Mercosur, is not easy because of a proliferation of non trade barriers which has resulted in large surpluses with most of the region’s countries.

• Thursday, August 26th 2010 - 03:41 UTC

  Mercosur spends less that 2% of GDP in defence; “no arms race in the region”

  

  South America and particularly Mercosur spend less than 2% of GDP in military hardware which makes it the world region that less invests in defence, said a high ranking official from the Barak Obama administration visiting Paraguay.