Lula Highlights Importance of MERCOSUR Summit

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva highlighted on Monday the outcome of last week’s 39th Summit of the Southern Common Market in Argentina, which he said was the best in eight years.

He noted that the meeting eliminated a double trade tariff paid by all of the bloc’s member countries, which was hurting the region’s trade because of a “distortion,” he said.

The Brazilian president emphasized that the end of the tariff, known as the TEC, and the approval of a MERCOSUR customs code is creating space to consolidate “customs unity.”

He added that the MERCOSUR member countries had also approved the funding of nine projects worth $795 million to support regional development, and which will especially benefit the bloc’s smallest countries, Paraguay and Uruguay.

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