The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, yesterday considered it a “historic milestone” that his country was accepted as a full member of Mercosur, after the last obstacle for this incorporation was overcome, with the approval by the Senate of Brazil, by the who thanked his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“The Plenary Session of the Brazilian Senate approved the Draft Decree for the full accession of Bolivia to Mercosur. We appreciate the efforts of Brother President Lula and the Brazilian people for this historic milestone in Latin American integration,” Arce wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“The people of the south are committed to integration to face the challenges represented by the multidimensional crisis that threatens humanity,” said the Bolivian president.
Arce’s message comes after the Brazilian Senate approved entry into the bloc that also includes Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The next step will be for Lula to promulgate the law of Bolivia’s accession as a full member of Mercosur for the bloc’s semiannual summit to be held on December 7 in Rio de Janeiro.
The Brazilian president extended his gratitude to “the senators for completing this process,” while congratulating Arce and “Bolivia for joining us in Mercosur.”
Brazil was the only one that had yet to ratify Bolivia’s entry into the South American bloc.
The discussion about the possibility of Bolivia joining Mercosur began during Lula’s first government, in 2006, and in January 2007 the bloc accepted the request of the neighboring country, during a summit held in Rio de Janeiro.
Bolivia, which is an associate member, will need to adapt to Mercosur to adopt the bloc’s common nomenclature, the Common External Tariff and the Regime of Origin.
Currently, the country is a state associated with Mercosur, the same status as Chile, Peru and Colombia.
This is the first entry of a country into the bloc after the experience recorded by Venezuela, which joined the bloc but was suspended since 2017 for non-compliance with statutes.
According to the protocol, Bolivia must adopt the current Mercosur regulatory agreement gradually, within a maximum period of four years from the date of entry into the bloc.
Source: Ambito
