Bill 225/2023-2024 “on the ratification of the Protocol of Accession of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to MERCOSUR” is the second item on the agenda at Wednesday’s session. If approved, it must be sent to the Senate for review and subsequent sanction, and then to the Executive Branch for promulgation.

After the procedure has expired, 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.

From then on, Bolivia will have four years to adopt all the regulatory baggage of the bloc and consolidate reciprocal free trade with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Sources from the Bolivian Foreign Ministry explained that there is no deadline to complete the process in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. However, the deputy minister of Foreign Trade and Integration, Huáscar Ajata, warned that with each day that passes by without the ratification of the document, business people are not taking advantage of market opportunities and Bolivian migrants are not benefiting from the bloc’s immigration status.

The chamber leadership are also proposing to debate a credit of 43 million dollars for the Urban Integration, Energy Efficiency and Urban Mobility Program of Sucre.

jg/llp/oda/jpm