ABSTRACT
Since its creation in March 1991, MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) has established the project of regional integration in Latin America which has reached the highest level of consolidation on the long list of integrative experiments carried out within the region. The fast progress made in its first implementation phase (until 1994) boosted it into the ground of an elected interlocutor for conducting commercial negotiations with the various actors in the global arena. Based on the decision to aim at creating a customs union, all member countries in 1994 made a commitment under the Ouro Preto Protocol (OPP)2 to implement a common external trade policy.
