Mercosur

• Friday, March 27th 2009 - 16:23 UTC

  Paraguay: not much to celebrate on 18th anniversary of Mercosur

  

  Mercosur “has not advanced sufficiently to promote symmetries” said Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo on Thursday during a ceremony at the Executive palace to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the signing of the South American customs union made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 05:10 UTC

  Brazilian proposal for a Mercosur Police, Merpol

  

  Brazil is sponsoring the creation of a Mercosur police force similar to Europol the security organization of the European Union which specializes in across-border crimes, revealed the Brazilian Ministry of Justice.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  Mercosur and EU preparing for a new round of negotiations

  

  Mercosur and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to reach a wide ranging agreement, --in spite of stalled negotiations--, and to push for the conclusion of the World Trade Organization, WTO, Doha Round talks.

• Saturday, March 21st 2009 - 10:13 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil close ranks and downplay trade differences

  

  Argentine visiting president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva called on Friday for speedier financing of joint development and commerce projects to help stimulate decreasing bilateral trade.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 09:58 UTC

  Mercosur feeling the crunch particularly in trade and credit access

  

  Mercosur is already feeling the effects of the global crisis in its foreign sector and economic activity, according to a report from the prestigious Argentine consultants Ecolatina.

• Saturday, March 14th 2009 - 09:42 UTC

  Trade commitments ease Venezuela’s access to Mercosur

  

  Venezuela and Paraguay closed this week a round of business negotiations to boost bilateral trade which will become effective once Venezuela is formally incorporated to Mercosur, it was reported in Asunción.

• Thursday, March 12th 2009 - 08:30 UTC

  Good prospects in Brazil for Venezuela’s admission to Mercosur

  

  The head of the Brazilian Senate and former president Jose Sarney said that the Mercosur incorporation of Venezuela will be “disturbing” for the trade block but admitted the Upper House would finally approve the admission protocols.

• Monday, March 9th 2009 - 14:20 UTC

  President Vazquez confident Uruguay is prepared for the crisis

  

  Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez underlined during a political rally over the weekend the successes of his administration and said the country was better prepared to face the current global crisis.

• Friday, March 6th 2009 - 08:58 UTC

  Brazil Argentina trade clash; dispute could reach WTO

  

  Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretary Welber Barral admitted publicly that Brasilia is considering taking its trade dispute claims with Argentina to the World Trade Organization. Insistent leaks to the press from “reliable sources” anticipated for days the growing trade rift between Mercosur two main partners.

• Thursday, March 5th 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Argentine/Brazil bilateral trade drops 40% in Jan-Feb

  

  Bilateral trade between Argentina and Brazil continued to deteriorate during the first two months of the year, according to official statistics released in Brasilia. Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade said that exports to Argentina in January-February were down to 1.33 billion US dollars which represents 46.5% less than Jan-Feb. 2008.