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India-MERCOSUR Sign Additional Protocol to Accept Electronic Certificates of Origin
India and MERCOSUR sign the First Additional Protocol to the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to facilitate acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin. The development is reported as a recent update in India-MERCOSUR trade arrangements.
MERCOSUR Group and India-MERCOSUR PTA:
| Dimension | Key Details |
|---|---|
| MERCOSUR identity | The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) is a South American regional economic organization. |
| Relative size | MERCOSUR is the fourth largest integrated market after the European Union (EU), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and ASEAN. |
| Legal basis | MERCOSUR is created in 1991 by signing the Treaty of Asunción. |
| Objective | MERCOSUR provides for free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. |
| Customs union status | MERCOSUR has become a customs union in January 1995. |
| Member countries | MERCOSUR originally comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay; Bolivia and Venezuela join later; Venezuela has been suspended since December 1, 2016. |
| Associate members | MERCOSUR counts Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname as associate members. |
| Headquarters | MERCOSUR headquarters is in Montevideo, Uruguay. |
| Official working languages | MERCOSUR official working languages are Spanish and Portuguese. |
| Governance: highest body | The Common Market Council is the bloc’s highest decision-making body, and provides a high-level forum for coordinating foreign and economic policy. |
| Governance: composition and decision-making | The Common Market Council comprises the foreign and economic ministers of each member state, or their equivalent, and decisions are made by consensus. |
| Governance: presidency | The group’s presidency rotates every six months among its full members. |
| India–MERCOSUR PTA timeline | The India-MERCOSUR PTA is signed on 25 January 2004 and enters into force on 1 June 2009. |
| Preferential tariff concessions | The Agreement provides preferential tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines by India and 452 tariff lines by the MERCOSUR side. |