• by IPS Correspondents (ouro preto, brazil)
• Thursday, December 15, 1994
• Inter Press Service

OURO PRETO, Brazil, Dic 15 (IPS) - The Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), to be inaugurated on Jan. 1, will be imperfect at first, according to the Common Market Group, which met in Ouro Preto, Brazil to prepare for an upcoming ministers' summit.

According to Political Economy Secretary Winston Fritsch of Brazil's Finance Ministry, prolonged negotiations within the bloc are natural because "the agenda is extensive and complex, and demands lengthy discussion."

He added that "there are no insurmountable difficulties," saying that the secretarial-level talks would pave the way for the presence of the economic and foreign relations ministers of Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Debate has centred on the lists of products that each country hopes to protect in trade within the bloc and others to be excepted from the common foreign tariff.

Uruguay's list of 1,000 products and Paraguay's of 800 are considered excessive. "We will have to negotiate a reduction, which would be ideal," or establish some kind of trade compensation, Fritsch said.

Argentina's list includes some 300 products, and Brazil's only 30, including wine, dairy products, textiles and peach preserves.

Despite these ongoing disputes - less than three weeks from the Jan. 1 inauguration of Mercosur - Fritsch said the integration process was advancing with "enormous political support from the public opinion and economic powers."

One reflection of this support is that trade within the bloc has tripled since 1992, he said.

The common foreign tariff that forms the basis of the customs uniom must still be established, along with the final lists of exceptions.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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