7 de abril de 2010 | Noticias | Anti-neoliberalismo
Commitments
FTA between Mercosur and Israel in force. Negotiations with Europe expected to be resumed
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On Sunday, the FTA between Mercosur and Israel came into force. This FTA establishes a zero tariff on bilateral exports for a decade. In addition, the South American bloc is waiting for the European Union to improve their offer in order to resume negotiations to sign a free trade agreement.
Mercosur is made up by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, visited Israel on March 15th and announced the beginning of trade relations between both parties.
Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretary, Welber Barral, was the person in charge of settling the last details to make this agreement possible. According to Agencia Brasil, he explained that he worked on products classification.
Meanwhile, Mercosur is waiting for the UE to show political will and improve their offer to resume negotiations towards a FTA. “Now it is Europe´s turn”, said Argentinian Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs Secretary, Alfredo Chiaradia, according to Uruguayan newspaper, El País.
Both blocs have been meeting since last year in order to reach basic agreements that allow the negotiation to sign an FTA to be resumed. Chiaradia said that “the problem is basically Europe´s attitude, which says that the gaps between the blocs are too wide –in terms of products, services and investment- and the negotiations cannot be resumed if these gaps persist”.
One of the most contentious points is Mercosur´s demand for the UE to open their market to agricultural products, and their rejection to subsidies granted to producers. Meanwhile, the European bloc wants Mercosur to open their market of industrialized products.
Chiaradia explained that Mercosur has tried to make the gap narrower, and that now it is the turn of the European Union. However, he said he is confident that the negotiations to sign a FTA will be able to be resumed in a couple of months.
Meanwhile, Uruguayan and Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministers, Luis Almagro and Celso Amorim respectively, shared Chiaradia´s position. After a meeting held on March 23rd in Rio de Janeiro, Almagro said to EFE news agency: “We agreed that Mercosur has done what is necessary to move forward in the negotiations with the EU”. Another meeting between the parties is scheduled for the end of April in Europe.
