Joint Communiqué of the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Mercosur and the Andean Community

The Foreign Ministers of MERCOSUR and the Andean Community met in Montevideo, Uruguay on August 4, 2003 to evaluate the status of negotiations to reach a free trade agreement between the two groups in the terms of Economic Complementarity Agreement Nº 56, signed in December 2002.

They reiterated their governments’ political determination to move ahead urgently with the trade negotiations that are an essential element for making the common aspiration to achieve an effectively integrated South American space a reality.  In this connection, they noted that conditions are ripe for concluding the process by the deadline established in ACE Nº 56.

CAN delivered a working proposal for consideration by the MERCOSUR Foreign Ministers.  It contains Guidelines for the negotiation of the Free Trade Agreement; a Working Program with a Schedule of Negotiation Meetings and agendas and a Cooperation Program that takes advantage of existing mechanisms to finance trade and investment and thereby spur physical integration, particularly actions within the South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA).

 MERCOSUR welcomed CAN’s proposal and considered it a positive basis for advancing with the negotiations that will make it possible to attain the shared objective.   

The Foreign Ministers decided that the negotiations need to be led pragmatically and constructively, so that access to the markets will be guaranteed for all products, including the most sensitive, and the rules and disciplines that are agreed upon are given a measure of certainty and foreseeability.   

They emphasized that the negotiations between MERCOSUR and Peru, now in their final stage, are a part of this process.   

The Foreign Ministers agreed that the negotiations should bear in mind the asymmetries among the economies that are involved, in an effort to achieve results that will enhance their competitiveness and productivity, thereby spurring trade flows.   

They decided to move ahead with the institutionalization by holding regular meetings of the Foreign and Trade Ministers.  The desirability of holding Ministerial meetings by sectors was underscored, starting with the Ministers of Agriculture.  The Foreign Ministers drew attention to the need to create a link between the CAN and MERCOSUR Secretariats and in that connection assigned issues of common interest to be examined –among them investments and the integration of production systems--,  in regard to which joint studies and actions may be undertaken.

The importance of creating a Permanent Business Forum between the two groups and of incorporating the social dimension in the integration process were pointed out.

The Foreign Ministers agreed to hold monthly meetings at the headquarters of the ALADI Secretariat in order to bring their negotiations to a close by December 31, 2003.  The first meeting will take place during the week of August 25, 2003, at the Vice-Ministerial level.  A Ministerial meeting is scheduled for October at the headquarters of the CAN General Secretariat in Lima, to evaluate the course of the negotiations.   

The negotiation process will be monitored continuously.