Behind Brazil's export gains: Mercosur, the bloc built by the Treaty of Asuncion

Background

Brazil's exports to the European Union rose 21 per cent in the first five months of the Mercosur-EU agreement, so it is worth knowing the bloc Brazil negotiated through. The Common Market of the South, Mercosur, was created on 26 March 1991 with the signing of the Treaty of Asuncion by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its stated aims include a zone for the free circulation of goods and services, a Common External Tariff known as the TEC, the coordination of international and macroeconomic policy, and the harmonisation of national laws in specific sectors. The institutional structure was defined by the Ouro Preto Protocol in 1994, which set up six organs: the Council of the Common Market, the Common Market Group, the Mercosur Trade Commission, a Joint Parliamentary Commission, an Economic and Social Consultative Forum, and an Administrative Secretariat. The Mercosur Trade Commission is the technical body that manages the common trade policy instruments, including competition questions, through its Technical Committee No 5 on Competition Defense.