MSG126G/01E MERCOSUR: Free Trade to Exclude Sugar, Auto Sector
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dic 15 (IPS) - Free trade in the Southern Cone Common Market will exclude sugar and the automotive sector, as well as several products on lists presented by the four member nations, an Argentine official said Thursday.
"It has been decided. There will be no free trade of sugar" when Mercosur goes into effect on Jan. 1, said Undersecretary of Political Economy Alejandro Mayoral of Argentina's Economic Ministry.
A separate system will control the sugar trade, while the issue is discussed "during the course of 1995," he said.
The automotive industry will also be excluded from Mercosur's free trade and customs union until after the 1999 expiration of a special Argentine policy governing the sector.
A joint commission will be formed to define the system that will control the trade of vehicles and their components as of the year 2000, Mayoral said.
His Brazilian colleague Winston Fritsch added that, until then, nations will have to rely on "bilateral advances"
Both of these sectors have generated differences between Brazil and Argentina. An agreement reached by the governments of both countries last week is questioned by Brazilian auto parts manufacturers, who claim it reflects Argentine protectionism.
Meanwhile, Argentines claim that sugar subsidies in Brazil prevent imports free of tariffs and other restrictions.
The completely unrestricted trade to be introduced on Jan. 1 will apply only to 80 or 85 percent of all tariffs.
Negotiations begun Tuesday in Ouro Preto, Brazil will seek to establish a deadline for "eliminating these restrictions, or at least harmonising them," said Mayoral.
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