Mercosur Members to Raise 100 Import Duties

On Dec. 21, 2011, the Mercosur committee passed a new external tariff mechanism allowing member states to temporarily raise import duties on products under 100 HS codes for 12 months and to take an extension by the same time limit after the validity period.

This mechanism is similar to a current measure of Mercosur, which is the List of Special Cases of External Common Tariffs, and the only difference is the List of Special Cases allows member states to raise or lower 100 import duties.

Currently, in Brazil's List of Special Cases, there are 65 duties lowered and 35 duties raised.

As per regulations, every member state should submit a list to the Mercosur committee to clarify its sharply increasing imports and their injury to its local industries; after that, other member states have the right to raise any objection to the list within 15 working days, and otherwise, the list will come into force immediately.

Brazilian Vice Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade says that the new move will be helpful for all Mercosur states to cope with the global financial crisis.