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
Canada, South Africa and India are scheduled to begin this year trade talks with Mercosur, according to reports from Ottawa and Johannesburg.
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.
Uruguay called on Brazil and Argentina to allow Mercosur junior members to reach unilateral trade agreements with third countries helping to boost the group’s dynamism.
The Paraguayan Senate under opposition control postponed the consideration of Paraguay’s incorporation to Unasur, Union of South American Nations, without any mediate timetable to review the issue. The Senate also has it its “frozen” agenda a vote on Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur as full member.
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera made his Mercosur debut this week at the regional trade association’s summit in San Juan, Argentina, delivering a well received speech and holding separate meetings with Bolivian President Evo Morales and Brazil’s Lula da Silva and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner.
Mercosur presidents, meeting in Argentina, called for a “quick conclusion” of Venezuela’s incorporation process to the block which remains stalled at the Paraguayan congress.
Consolidating Mercosur as an “undisputed irreversible” integrated block will be Brazilian president Lula da Silva challenge as the pro-tempore chair of the group in the last leg of his eight years in office.
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs minister Nicolas Maduro called on the Paraguayan parliament for a “sincere and fraternal” vote that opens the way for Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur as a full member, a request pending since 2006.
Mercosur concluded Tuesday in Argentina one of its most successful summits after having reached agreements on issues that consolidate integration and at the same avoiding being drawn into a frustrating debate on a renewed chapter of the ongoing Venezuela/Colombia conflict.