Mercosur - Member States

Member States

Mercosur is composed of 5 sovereign member states: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Following the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo by the Paraguayan Senate, this country was suspended from Mercosur, and the admittance of Venezuela as a full member became effective July 31, 2012. In four years, Venezuela will have to fully adapt to the trade bloc regulations.

Directly subordinated to the Common Market Group, the Work Subgroups draw up the minutes of the decisions to be submitted for the consideration of the Council, and conduct studies on specific Mercosur concerns. Currently, the Work Subgroups are the following: Commercial Matters; Customs Matters; Technical Standards; Tax and Monetary Policies Relating to Trade; Land Transport; Sea Transport; Industrial and Technology Policies; Agricultural Policy; Energy Policy; Coordination of Macroeconomic Policies; and Labor, Employment and Social Security Matters.

The meetings of the Work subgroups will be held quarterly, alternating in every member state, in alphabetical order, or at the Common Market Group Administrative Office. Activities will be carried out by the Work Subgroups in two stages: preparatory and conclusive. In the preparatory stage, the members of the Work Subgroups may request the participation of representatives from the private sector of each member state. The decision-making stage is reserved exclusively for official representatives of the member states. The delegations of representatives from the private sector in the preparatory stage of the Work Subgroup activities will have a maximum of three representatives for each member state directly involved in any of the stages of the production, distribution or consumption process for the products that fall within the scope of the subgroup's activities.