At the beginning of the week the members of the EFTA parliamentary committee will hold talks in Buenos Aires with members of Argentina’s government and parliament, as well as with representatives from national umbrella organisations and think tanks on the ongoing free trade negotiations with the Mercosur customs union. The aim is to determine European and South American interests of all relevant branches in the service, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, and identify the opportunities and challenges for individual economic actors.
The president of the Council of States, Karin Keller-Sutter, will meet with the Argentine vice president, Gabriela Michetti, who also chairs the Senate. The meeting will focus on the leading role played by Argentina within Mercosur and the open trade policy pursued by President Mauricio Macri since assuming office. The main subject of discussions at the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture will be the strong interests of the Mercosur states in the field of agriculture. The members of the EFTA parliamentary committee will also meet with the state secretary for international economic relations, Horacio Reyser, and hold a meeting at the Ministry of Production with State Secretary Lucio Castro.
In addition to meetings with members of several committees of the Argentine National Congress and representatives from the Swiss–Argentine and Norwegian-Argentine chambers of commerce, Ms Keller-Sutter will also take part in a podium discussion hosted by the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI). She is likely to set out the importance that Switzerland and its EFTA partner states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) place in modern free trade agreements, which extend beyond the liberalisation of trade in goods and also cover important areas such as trade in services and the protection of intellectual property and the issue of sustainability.
Later in the week meetings are scheduled to take place in Montevideo with the Uruguayan foreign minister, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, and the chief negotiator for free trade agreements with the EU and EFTA, Ambassador Valeria Csukasi. Ms Keller-Sutter is also due to meet the Uruguayan vice president and Senate president Lucia Topolansky. Further talks are planned with members of the foreign affairs and the agriculture, cattle and fisheries committees of both the upper and lower houses of the Uruguayan General Assembly. Furthermore, the members of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee will hold talks at the headquarters of the Mercosur organisation in Montevideo with the permanent representatives of the Mercosur states (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and with members of the Parlasur, the parliamentary assembly of the Mercosur countries.
The Mercosur states hold great potential for Swiss exporters. In 2016 Switzerland exported goods to the Mercosur states amounting to CHF 2.8 billion, and imported goods worth CHF 720 million. If a free trade agreement were in place, Swiss businesses could save up to CHF 206 million a year in customs duties. But above all, such an agreement would facilitate market access Swiss service providers, strengthen the protection of intellectual property and open up new opportunities in terms of public procurement. An opening of the markets also entails certain risks, particularly in view of the Mercosur states’ strong interest in the field of agriculture. The members of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee will give due consideration to this challenge in the course of their discussions.
The Swiss EFTA/EU delegation will be represented on this working visit of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee to Argentina and Uruguay by its chairperson, Council of States president Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP, SG), its vice chair, National Council member Eric Nussbaumer (SP, BL) and National Council members Kathy Riklin (CVP, ZH) and Jean-François Rime (SVP, FR).