This Tuesday (28) the Federal Senate approved the accession protocol for Bolivia’s accession to Mercosur. The vote was symbolic only senators Eduardo Girão (NovoCE) and Cleitinho (PLMG) spoke against it. After being approved by Congress, the proposal now goes to the President of the Republic for ratification.
Discussion about Bolivia’s possible accession to Mercosur began during the first Lula government in 2006.
In January of the following year, the bloc accepted the neighboring country’s request during a summit in Rio de Janeiro.
A working group was then formed to define how the integration should take place. The mandatory membership criteria for Bolivia include:
- Adopting the Common Mercosur Nomenclature (NCM)
- Adoption of the Common External Customs Tariff (TEC)
- Adopting the Mercosur origin regime
1 of 1 Former President Dilma Rousseff and then President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, on the Bolivian President’s visit to Brazil in 2015. — Photo: Filipe Matoso/G1 Former President Dilma Rousseff and then President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, during the Bolivian President’s visit to Brazil in 2015. — Photo: Filipe Matoso/G1
After agreeing to the terms, the parliaments of all member countries had to approve the proposal so that Bolivia would then become a permanent member of Mercosur.
Only Brazil had not yet signed the acceptance. The parliaments of all Mercosur member countries Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay had already agreed on Bolivia’s accession.
Senator Chico Rodrigues (PSBRR) said in his report that approval of the proposal was important for the “expansion” of trade in South America.
“No less important is the opening or expansion of the market for Brazilian companies with the possibility of using cheaper energy, considering that Brazil and Argentina are already Bolivia’s main trading partners,” he explained.
Full members of Mercosur are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Venezuela joined the bloc but has been suspended since 2017 due to noncompliance with some commitments set out in the agreement.
Currently, Bolivia is a Mercosur associated state alongside other countries such as Chile, Peru and Colombia.
According to the protocol, Bolivia must gradually adopt the current normative Mercosur agreement within a maximum of four years from the date of accession to the bloc. Within the same period, the country must adopt the common Mercosur nomenclature, common external tariff and the bloc’s origin regime.
After the vote on Bolivia’s accession to Mercosur, the Senate approved a motion to set up a working group of five senators to review the political and social situation of the plurinational state of Bolivia.
Senator Cid Gomes (PDTCE), author of the question, justified this by saying that in 2015 one of the criteria for the country’s admission to the bloc was to “address the democratic issues in this country”.
“Due to the identification of democratic procedures essential to the verification of membership of the bloc, a visit by parliamentarians is essential to address the concerns raised during the meeting of this body. This mission may include visits to legislative bodies and organized civil society organizations, as well as the implementation of other activities useful for the purpose of the mission,” he explained.