Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman set in motion the 39th Mercosur Summit, during which Argentina informed of the results obtained during its pro-tempore presidency of the bloc during the first semester. Issues such as customs union, regional infrastructure, and PyME productive integration were discussed. A free-trade agreement was signed with Egypt. Venezuela and Colombia's "broken ties" appeared as a floating topic among those to-be-discussed issues, as it was decided not to establish the matter as "part of the agenda."The plenary session was presided by Timerman, along with his colleagues from Brazil, Celso Amorim; Uruguay, Luis Almagro; and Paraguay, Héctor Lacognata. Also in attendance were members of the Economy Ministers Council, such as Amado Boudou, Fernando Lorenzo (Uruguay), Guido Mantega (Brazil), and Dionisio Borda (Paraguay).
Mercosur countries signed a free-trade agreement with Egypt, which is expected to open the market to 76 million consumers to primary and industrialized products from the South American customs bloc.
With the agreement, the majority of Mercosur exports to Egypt will enter said country free of tariffs beginning immediately, Argentine Industry Minister Débora Giorgi said from San Juan province.
Mercosur, a potent agriculture producer integrated by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, is also a world automotive and auto-parts producer.
"New opportunities in products that we currently don't sell (to Egypt), such as vehicles, auto-parts, pharmaceutical drugs, paper products, chicken, and fruits, among others, will open up," Giorgi detailed.
Egyptian Industry and Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid participated in the agreement's negotiations.
The trade agreement orders the removal of tariffs, differentiating between four groups of products according the set time-line. In the first group, which encompasses meats, butter, wheat, corn, oils and valves, the elimination of tariffs is to be applied immediately. In the second group, which includes milk and industrial goods, the elimination time-limit will be within the next four years. The third and fourth groups are to be without tariffs eight to ten years from now, respectively.
Other activities also took place during the first talks on the meeting. Human Rights Secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde stated that "the Mercosur Council of Ministers has approved the creation of the Public Policies on Human Rights Institute creation." This Institute is to be set within the premises of the ESMA building, in the Espacio de la Memoria hall.
Once the summit has ended on Tuesday afternoon, CFK and her Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are to meet to strengthen bilateral bonds. Both leaders are trying to mediate in the Colombia-Venezuela conflict, as well as Unasur Secretary-General, Néstor Kirchner.
Argentina highlighted that its most important achievement during its pro-tempore presidency was the "re-launching of negotiations with the European Union with the objective of reaching an Inter-regional Association Agreement," the Foreign Ministry informed.
Negotiations between both blocs had been interrupted since 2004, although France opposes reducing subsidies on agricultures, on of the main Mercosur complaints for an eventual creation of a bi-regional accord.
The government, also, estimates that during the summit, "the elimination of the double recovery of the common external tariff and the mechanism of distribution of customs revenue" is to be established, after more than five years of negotiations between the members of the bloc.
Source: http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/110810/argentina___trade_agreement_signed_with_egypt_.aspx
