The group’s presidency rotates every six months among its full members, following alphabetical order. The group consists of the foreign and economy ministers of each member state, or their equivalent, and decisions are made by consensus. The bloc’s highest decision-making body, the Common Market Council, provides a high-level forum for coordinating foreign and economic policy. The bloc often “is less about opening up but actually about protecting Brazilian and Argentine industries from global competition,” says Oliver Stuenkel, an associate professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo. Some critics say Argentina and Brazil wanted Mercosur simply as a trade shield. ![]() Together, the two countries account for nearly 90 percent of the bloc’s GDP and 95 percent of its population. Mercosur was created in large part to cement a rapprochement between Argentina and Brazil, whose relationship had long been defined by rivalry. ![]() In 1994, the group signed the Protocol of Ouro Preto, formalizing its status as a customs union. Residents of the bloc are authorized to live and work anywhere within it. “It was going to be a customs union with a political side.” The Mercosur stamp is emblazoned on member countries’ passports, and license plates display the Mercosur symbol. “Mercosur had grand ambitions,” says CFR’s Shannon K. The bloc has even considered introducing a common currency. ![]() The charter members hoped to form a common market similar to that of the EU to increase business and investment opportunities for regional industries and encourage local development. Mercosur was created in 1991 when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asuncion, an accord calling for the “free movement of goods, services, and factors of production between countries.” The four countries agreed to eliminate customs duties, implement a common external tariff of 35 percent on certain imports from outside the bloc, and adopt a common trade policy toward outside countries and blocs.
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