The regulations comprise a single article referring to numeral 14 of Paragraph One of Article 158 of the Political Constitution of the State. They also refer to articles 33 and 37 of Law number 401 of September 18th, 2013, on the Celebration of Treaties, which ratifies the “Protocol of Accession of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to Mercosur”, signed in Brasilia on July 17th, 2015, and which is part of this law.

Article 6 of the bill establishes that “the parties agree to achieve reciprocal free trade as of the date of entry into force of this protocol.”

Once the regulations are approved, they must be sent to the Senate for review and subsequent sanction, and then to the Executive Branch for promulgation. Once these procedures have been completed, the national government must formalize the “Deposit of the Instrument of Ratification of the Protocol of Accession of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to Mercosur” at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay.

After this step, Bolivia will have a period of up to four years to adopt all the regulatory baggage of the bloc and enhance reciprocal free trade with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

According to article 13 of the Accession Protocol, signed in 2015, “(…) the Plurinational State of Bolivia will gradually adopt the current regulatory acquisition of Mercosur, no later than four years, counted from the date of entry into force of this instrument.” A Working Group will establish the “schedule for adoption of the said regulations.”

Over the next four years, Bolivia must adopt the Common Nomenclature of Mercosur, the Common External Tariff, and the Regime of Origin of Mercosur, and cancel bilateral agreements such as the one on economic complementation with Venezuela, which has been suspended from its rights and obligations as a member of the bloc since 2017.

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