Mercosur

Mercosur or Mercosul,officially the Common Market of the South, Latin American trade organization established in 1991 to increase economic cooperation among the countries of E South America. It is commonly known as Mercosur or Mercosul from the Spanish and Portuguese names, respectively, for the organization. Full members now include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela; Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are associate members. The headquarters are in Montevideo, Uruguay. Mercosur is gradually eliminating tariffs between member states and at the same time aiming for a low common external duty, and trade between its members has greatly expanded since 1991. A Mercosur parliament was established in 2007.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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