The Foreign Ministers and the Ministers responsible for International Trade and Production of MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance held a meeting at the Palacio San Martín to communicate the progress of each process, as well as to explore actions of mutual interest in the field of regional economic integration.
The Ministers exchanged views on the international situation and agreed on the importance of facing current challenges by intensifying efforts to favour free trade and regional integration.
In this regard, the Ministers agreed to continue working on closer contacts between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance and considered it appropriate to establish lines of work on trade facilitation, customs cooperation, trade promotion, support for SMEs, and the identification of potential regional value chains, which were identified by both blocs in May 2016.
Furthermore, it was agreed to instruct the High Level Group (HLG) of the Pacific Alliance and the Common Market Group (CMG) of MERCOSUR to meet periodically to move forward with the items identified between both integration mechanisms, for which a roadmap was established.
The Ministers highlighted the first technical meeting between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance on customs cooperation, which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 10 March 2017.
The Ministers also welcomed the initiative to hold the “MERCOSUR – Pacific Alliance: a positive agenda for integration” Seminar, scheduled to take place during the first half of this year in Buenos Aires.
As regards the regional integration process, the Ministers underscored the goals of trade openness and promotion of economic and social development in the region, promoted by the Latin-American Integration Association (ALADI), of which all the countries of MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance are members.
In addition, the Ministers exchanged views on possible coordination actions regarding the challenges posed by the current regional and international context.
Lastly, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance of a multilateral system of open trade that is predictable, transparent, inclusive and based on international rules, and committed to work to achieve, at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (Buenos Aires, 11-15 December 2017), concrete results that make it possible to move forward in the negotiations and strengthen the role of the WTO in facing the challenges of the 21st century.
Buenos Aires, 7 April 2017.
MERCOSUR – Pacific Alliance
Roadmap
Buenos Aires, 7 April 2017
Regional Value Chains / Cumulative Rules of Origin
- Meeting of experts to exchange information and experiences on Cumulative Rules of Origin
- Pacific Alliance – Mercosur workshop on clusters
Facilitation of trade / International Trade Single-window systems:
- Meeting of experts within the framework of the Ibero-American Network of International Trade Single-windows.
- Exchange of advances on the implementation of ALADI’s Digital Certificate of Origin.
Customs cooperation:
- 2nd Meeting of customs experts to analyze the scope of Mercosur’s INDIRA (Customs Register Information Exchange) System, and on the Pacific Alliance’s side, to share the results of the workshops with the World Customs Organization.
Trade promotion and SMEs:
- Exchange of invitations to business events in which SMEs of the Pacific Alliance and Mercosur participate (such as the Business Matchmaking Forum.)
Non-tariff barriers
Facilitation of Trade in Services