Brazil may ratify Mercosur PTA with India by June
Brazil may ratify Mercosur PTA with India by June
New Delhi, April 14 2007: Brazil today said it would ratify the Mercosur preferential trade agreement (PTA) with India by June this year, coinciding with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s visit to India.
"We will do our best. There is no lack of political will to ratify the PTA, but since we are in a parliamentary system of governance, the process is taking long," Brazilian minister of external relations Celso Amorim said at a CII seminar here.
Brazilian president Lula will visit India in June and Amorim said the PTA would be ratified before or after the President’s visit.
"I am pretty sure that either before or just after President Lula’s visit to India, the agreement would be ratified," he said.
Amorim, however, said as of now, only Brazil was ratifying the agreement.
"The others members are not ratifying the agreement right now. Unfortunately, it is just Brazil," he said.
During his visit, India and Brazil agreed to expand the PTA between Mercosur and India by including new products of interest of both sides to widen the scope of the agreement.
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela are full members of the grouping; while Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are associate members.
Bureau Report
