Mercosur, Mercosul, or Ñemby Ñemuha, officially Southern Common Market, is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

1. MERCOSUR

2. ABOUT
• MERCOSUR is derived from MERcado Común del SUR which means Southern Common
market
• Mercosur is South America's leading trading bloc known as the Common Market of the South
• Mercosur was set up in March 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay under the
Treaty of Asuncion. The 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto gave the body a wider international status
and formalised a customs union.
• Brazil and Argentina are Mercosur's economic giants. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and
Peru are associate members; they can join free-trade agreements but remain outside the bloc's
customs union.
• Mercosur tariff policies regulate imports and exports and the bloc can arbitrate in trade
disputes among its members.
• In the longer term, Mercosur aims to create a continent-wide free-trade area, and the creation of
a Mercosur development bank has been mooted.

3. OBJECTIVES
• To increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the all member economies by opening markets,
promoting economic development in the framework of a globalized world.
• Improving infrastructure and communications, making better use of available resources,
preserving the environment, generating industrial complementation and coordinating
macroeconomic polices.
• Achieving a common external tariff is one of the main goals of the block.
• Free transit of production goods, services and factors between the member states with inter alia,
the elimination of customs rights and lifting of nontariff restrictions on the transit of goods or
any other measures with similar effects.
• Fixing of a common external tariff (TEC) and adopting of a common trade policy with regard to
nonmember states or groups of states, and the coordination of positions in regional and
international commercial and economic meetings;

4. FACTS
• Full members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
• Full member pending ratification: Venezuela
• Associate members: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
• Headquarters (secretariat): Montevideo, Uruguay
• Official languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Guarani

5. LEADERS
• The Mercosur presidency rotates between member states every six months.
• Mercosur institutions include the policy-making Common Market Council and the Common
Market Group, which implements policies and monitors compliance with the council's decisions.
• A Mercosur parliament was inaugurated in December 2006
• It began meeting in May 2007 in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo
• Initially, the parliament will have no power other than persuasion.

6. ISSUES
• Mercosur has been riven by disputes among its members. When Brazil's car industry became
increasingly competitive, aided by the devaluation of its currency in 1999, Argentina responded by
imposing tariffs on Brazilian steel imports. The spat was resolved in December 2000 when the two
countries signed a bilateral agreement to end the crisis.
• In 2006 Argentina and the bloc's smallest country Uruguay clashed over plans to build two large pulp
mills along the border - the biggest foreign investments Uruguay had ever attracted. Argentina said it
feared pollution and the impact on tourism and fishing. The matter went to the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), which ruled in favour of Uruguay. Argentina pledged to continue its fight against the
mills.
• The bloc's smaller members, Paraguay and Uruguay, complain of restricted access to markets in
Argentina and Brazil and have sought to set up bilateral trade deals outside Mercosur. The
organisation's rules forbid this.
• There is also the long-outstanding issue of Venezuela's membership. The country was accepted as a full
member in July 2006, pending ratification by the other member states, but four years later its status
remained in limbo as Paraguay had not yet officially approved the decision. This was mainly on account
of objections raised by the Paraguayan Senate, which has expressed doubts over the democratic
credentials of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

7. CARICOM

8. ABOUT
• The Caribbean Community Market (CARICOM) is an organization of 15 Caribbean nations
established in 1973
• The organisation of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies have a primary objectives to
promote economic integration and cooperation among its members
• Its major activities involve coordinating economic policies and development planning
• Instituting special projects for the less-developed countries within its jurisdiction
• Operating as a regional single market for many of its members (Caricom Single Market) and
handling regional trade disputes.

9. FACTS
The countries of CARICOM which are designated as Less Developed Countries (LDCs) are:[11]
• Antigua & Barbuda
• Belize
• Commonwealth of Dominica
• Grenada
• Republic of Haiti
• Montserrat
• Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines

10. The countries of CARICOM which are designated as More Developed Countries (MDCs) are:
• Commonwealth of the Bahamas
• Barbados
• Co-operative Republic of Guyana
• Jamaica
• Republic of Suriname
• Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
CARICOM ASSOCIATE MEMBERS:
• Anguilla – 4 July 1999
• Bermuda – 2 July 2003
• British Virgin Islands – 2 July 1991
• Cayman Islands – 15 May 2002
• Turks and Caicos Islands – 2 July 1991

11. Chairmanship
• The post of Chairman (Head of CARICOM) is held in rotation by the regional Heads of State
(for the republics) and Heads of Government (for the realms) of CARICOM‘s 15 member states.
Heads of Government
• CARICOM contains a quasi-Cabinet of the individual Heads of Government. These heads are
given specific specialised portfolios of responsibility for overall regional development and
integration.
Secondary organs
SECONDARY ORGAN ABBREVIATION
Council for Finance and Planning COFAP
Council for Foreign and Community Relations COFCOR
Council for Human and Social Development COHSOD
Council for Trade and Economic Development COTED

12. OBJECTIVES
• To improve standards of living and work, full employment of labour and other factors of
production.
• To Accelerate, coordinate and sustain economic development and convergence.
• Expansion of trade and economic relations with third States.
• Enhanced levels of international competitiveness.
• Organization for increased production and productivity, achievement of a greater measure of
economic leverage.
• Effectiveness of Member States in dealing with third States, groups of States and entities of any
description
• To enhance coordination of Member States’ foreign and foreign economic policies and enhance
functional cooperation.

13. THANK YOU