Mercosur to close deal on public purchases by end of year

Ministers from Brazil and Argentina took part Friday in a meeting with

Published on 15/09/2017 - 19:51 By Mariana Branco reports from Agência Brasil - Brasília

Brasília - O secretário de Comércio Exterior, Abrão Neto, divulga os dados da balança comercial brasileira de fevereiro (Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/Agência Brasil)

Abrão Neto, Brazil's secretary for foreign trade at the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and ServicesFabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/Agência Brasil

The talks on a deal for public purchases among Mercosur country members will be held up to the end of September, said Abrão Neto, Brazil's secretary for foreign trade at the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services. The agreement is likely be inked by the end of this year, he reported.

Neto was interviewed alongside Argentine Secretary for Trade Miguel Braun and Secretary for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Companies Mariano Mayer. On Wednesday and Thursday, representatives from the two governments participated in the 5th Meeting of the Production and Bilateral Trade Commission. The conference centered on topics like facilitated trade, regulatory cooperation, investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

“We're in the process of initiating negotiations—the normative part, what comes and what doesn't come into the [public purchases],” Neto said. The agreement includes purchases on federal level, but more local levels are also a possibility in the future.

“The deal between Brazil and Peru [signed last year,] covers purchases on federal level, but a mechanism for advancing mutual purchases on other levels were also included, in case states and municipalities agree on such transactions,” he explained.

Braun said the goal is to strike a deal covering the widest range of services and goods possible. “Argentina and Brazil are both interested in enjoying a deep and ambitious deal on public purchases. We're in the process of exchanging offers and I can't announce much other than this. It should be as comprehensive as possible.”

Protocol

Mercosur member countries (except for Venezuela, which has been suspended from the bloc) are holding talks on a protocol for public purchases which guarantees free dealings in the negotiation of goods, services and public projects provided by companies and contractors in the member countries.

Ratified only by Argentina, the protocol was not brought into effect, and has been under revision since 2010. In April last year, Brazil signed a deal in the same standards with Peru.

Private enterprise

As a complement to the meeting between authorities from the Brazilian and Argentine governments, Brazil's Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services Marcos Pereira and Production Minister Francisco Cabrera are to take part Friday (15) in a meeting with executives from the two countries at the headquarters of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), in São Paulo.

According to Neto, the goal is to advance ties with the private enterprise on the topics tackled by public officials in Brasília. “[The meeting] aims to hear from the public sector what it has to say about its perceptions, suggestions, and the way to advance bilateral trade,” he said.


Translated by Fabrício Ferreira


Fonte: Mercosur to close deal on public purchases by end of year

Edition: Fernando Fraga / José Romildo

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