ABCC President Rubens Hannun spoke of the progress made by the Agreement between Egypt and Mercosur and said the organization was available to support cooperation between the regions concerned. The webinar also saw Ashraf Moukhtar, head of the Agreements and Foreign Trade Division of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. Yasser Korani of the Egyptian Trade Service (ECS). Cesar Simas Teles, the agricultural attaché of the Brazilian Embassy in Cairo, listened to the discussions. The MERCOSUR-Egypt Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 September 2017, after all parties completed their internal procedures for ratifying the agreement. On 2 August 2010, MERCOSUR signed a free trade agreement with Egypt at the 39th Summit of MERCOSUR heads of state and associated countries. Tamer Mansour, Secretary General of the Brazilian Arab Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), said tariffs on products such as plants, mineral oils, fast lime and cement had been removed as a result of the treaty. He also referred to the figures for trade between Egypt and Brazil. Mansour said that at one point, 38% bought Arab products, mainly food, textiles and decorative items. 2- The Common Market Group (CMG) The CMG is the executive body of Mercosur and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the Asuncion Treaty.
The CMG sets up executive procedures to free up trade and coordinate economic policy. 7- The Mercosur Trade Commission (MTC) The CCM consults with the MTC on trade issues by introducing new mechanisms for the common trade policy and customs unification. The MTC is also a continuation of the evolution of Member States” trade policy. In 2010, MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) signed a free trade agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt. The agreement will allow preferential treatment for Egyptian products entering Latin American markets and reduce the cost of Egyptian imports for the most important products, such as sugar, meat and soybean oil. Section 25 of Chapter IV, Institutional Provisions, establishes a joint committee to manage and implement the agreement. Ezz said the Egyptian economy was good, with an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign trade. “We are one of the handfuls of countries in the world whose exports are increasing” – by 2%, he said. A framework agreement was signed on 7 July 2004 between Mercosur and Egypt, Argentina, a commitment to promote international trade regimes in accordance with World Trade Organization rules. The agreement is an evolution of the framework agreement signed on 7 July 2004 between Egypt and Mercosur in favour of the creation of a free trade area between the two parties and confirmed that michael Gamal Kaddes, Director General of Bilateral Trade Agreements of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry, discussed Egypt`s export potential.
He said the key sectors related to the Mercosur agreement were pharmaceuticals, machinery and mechanical equipment, building materials, metal products and food preparations. The agreement will lead to lower prices for agricultural raw materials. Through this agreement, the Egyptian government aims to promote foreign trade and diversify export markets. It also expected to double the volume of trade between Egypt and the Mercosur countries, which currently stands at $7.2 billion. The volume of trade between Egypt and Mercosur increased by 58.7% between 2004 and 2009 to reach $2.1 billion, and Egypt looks forward to strengthening its cooperation with Mercosur in various economic sectors, such as industry, technology and tourism. It should be noted that the signing of the free trade agreement between Egypt and the Mercosur countries took place after six rounds of negotiations in which Egypt wanted to actively participate with Latin American countries to ensure access to important privileges in the commodity lists.