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19.2. Southern Cone Common Market - MERCOSURa) Establishment: Asunción Treaty, of 1991.b) Members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Paraguay was suspended fromthe bloc until August 2013.c) Associates: Bolivia 1 , Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.d) Objective: eliminate all customs tariffs and other barriers that may hinder the free circulation ofgoods and services originating from their respective territories.Even though they are not associate States, in 2012 Guyana and Suriname began to enjoy forms ofparticipation in Mercosur meetings.e) Headquarters: Montevideo, Uruguayf) Characteristics:Mercosur represents one of the world's largest trade blocs, uniting more than 275 million people.In January 1995 the first stage of the integration process was carried to completion: the institution of afree trade area between the four countries. With respect to imports from non-member countries, theCommon External Tariff (CET) came into force, with a basic tariff ranging from zero to 20%, but withthe maintenance of a list of exceptions whereby the countries have the right to apply the national tariff.Nevertheless, there is a convergence mechanism up to the levels of the CET, in a linear andautomatic manner.Besides negotiations for the establishment of a customs union between the Mercosur Member States,the bloc also has extensive regulation covering many topics, including judicial cooperation, migration,foreign exchange swap agreements, industrial policy integration, government procurement,infrastructure, energy, non-tariff barriers and services. This vast regulatory framework may have asignificant impact on companies that wish to do business within intraregional boundaries.Mercosur signed various agreements with non-member countries, economic blocs and internationalorganizations with a view to laying the groundwork for investments and the establishment of freetrade, namely: the Andean Community, India, Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Egypt,Morocco, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States (Island,1 On 7 December 2012, Bolivia signed an Accession Protocol to the Mercosur. Its approval is conditional todomestic approval by the other members of the Bloc.96