Latin American Integration Association

This article is about the trade association. For the farming implement, see Laia (tool).

Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración Associação Latino-Americana de Integração Latin American Integration Association
Coat of arms
Administrative center		Montevideo, Uruguay
Working languages		Spanish Portuguese
Type		Trade bloc
Membership		13 members Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Cuba Ecuador Mexico Paraguay Panama Peru Uruguay Venezuela
Leaders
•	Secretary General	Carlos Alvarez
Establishment
•	Treaty of Montevideo	12 August 1980
Area
•	Total	35,262,114 km2 13,614,778 sq mi
Population
•	2008 estimate	515,722,726
•	Density	14.6/km2 37.8/sq mi
Time zone		(UTC-3 to -8)
Website http://www.aladi.org

The Latin American Integration Association / Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración / Associação Latino-Americana de Integração (LAIA / ALADI) is an international and regional scope organization. It was created on 12 August 1980 by the 1980 Montevideo Treaty, replacing the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA / ALALC). Currently, it has 13 member countries, and any of the Latin American States may apply for accession.

Objectives

The development of the integration process developed within the framework of the ALADI aims at promoting the harmonious and balanced socio-economic development of the region, and its long-term objective is the gradual and progressive establishment of a Latin-American Common Market.

Basic Functions

• Promotion and regulation of reciprocal trade
• Economic complementation
• Development of economic cooperation actions contributing to the markets extension.

General Principles

• Pluralism in political and economic matters;
• Progressive convergence of partial actions for the establishment of a Latin-American Common Market;
• Flexibility;
• Differential treatments based on the development level of the member countries; and
• Multiple forms of trade agreements.

Integration Mechanisms

The ALADI promotes the establishment of an area of economic preferences within the region, in order to create a Latin-American common market, through three mechanisms:

• A Regional Tariff Preference applied to goods from the member countries compared to tariffs in-force for third countries.
• Regional Scope Agreements, those in which all member countries participate.
• Partial Scope Agreements, those wherein two or more countries of the area participate.

The Relatively Less Economically Developed Countries of the region (Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay) benefit from a preferential system, through the lists of markets opening offered by the countries in favor of the Relatively Less Economically Developed Countries; special programs of cooperation (business rounds, pre-investment, financing, technological support); and countervailing measures in favor of the land-locked countries, the full participation of such countries in the integration process is sought. The ALADI includes in its legal structure the strongest sub-regional, plurilateral and bilateral integration agreements arising in growing numbers in the continent. As a result, the ALADI – as an institutional and legal framework or “umbrella” of the regional integration- develops actions in order to support and foster these efforts for the progressive establishment of a common economic space.

Members of the ALADI / LAIA

State Members	Join Date	Population	Land Surface	Exclusive Economic Zone	Platform	Capital City
República Argentina	Founder	40,117,096	2,780,400 km²	1,084,386 km²	856,346 km²	Buenos Aires
Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia	Founder	10,426,160	1,098,581 km²	Landlocked		Sucre & La Paz
República Federativa do Brasil	Founder	190,732,694	8,514,877 km²	3,660,955 km²	774,563 km²	Brasilia
República de Chile	Founder	17,094,275	756,096.3 km²	3,681,989 km²	252,947 km²	Santiago de Chile
República de Colombia	Founder	45,656,937	1,141,748 km²	817,816 km²	53,691 km²	Bogotá
República de Cuba	1999	11,242,621	110,860 km²	350,751 km²	61,525 km²	La Habana
República del Ecuador	Founder	14,306,876	283,561 km²	1,072,533 km²	41,034 km²	Quito
Estados Unidos Mexicanos	Founder	112,322,757	1,972,550 km²	3,177,593 km²	419,102 km²	Mexico City
República del Paraguay	Founder	7,030,917	406,752 km²	Landlocked		Asunción
República de Panamá	2011	3,405,813	78,200 km²	335,646 km²	53,404 km²	Panama City
República del Perú	Founder	29,885,340	1,285,215.6 km²	906,454 km²	82,000 km²	Lima
República Oriental del Uruguay	Founder	3,424,595	176,215 km²	142,166 km²	75,327 km²	Montevideo
República Bolivariana de Venezuela	Founder	30,102,382	916,445 km²	860,000 km²	98,500 km²	Caracas
Total:		521,213,563	19,651,873 km²	16,214,170 km²	2,839,313 km²

Accession of other Latin-American countries

The 1980 Montevideo Treaty is open to the accession of any Latin-American country. On 26 August 1999, the first accession to the 1980 Montevideo Treaty was executed, with the incorporation of the Republic of Cuba as a member country of the ALADI. On 10 May 2012, the Republic of Panama became the thirteenth member country of the ALADI. Likewise, the accession of the Republic of Nicaragua was accepted in the Sixteenth Meeting of the Council of Ministers (Resolution 75 (XVI)), held on 11 August 2011. Currently, Nicaragua moves towards the fulfillment of conditions for becoming a member country of the ALADI. The ALADI opens its field of actions for the rest of Latin America through multilateral links or partial agreements with other countries and integration areas of the continent (Article 25). The Latin-American Integration Association also contemplates the horizontal cooperation with other integration movements in the world and partial actions with third developing countries or their respective integration areas (Article 27).

Institutional Structure

ALADI - Institutional Structure

Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs

The Council of Ministers is the supreme body of the ALADI, and adopts the decisions for the superior political management of the integration process. It is constituted by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member countries. Notwithstanding, when one of such member countries assigns the competence of the integration affairs to a different Minister or Secretary of State, the member countries may be represented, with full powers, by the respective Minister or Secretary. It is convened by the Committee of Representatives, meets and makes decisions with the presence of all the member countries.

Evaluation and Convergence Conference

It is in charge, among others, of analyzing the functioning of the integration process in all its aspects, promoting the convergence of the partial scope agreements seeking their progressive multilateralization, and promoting greater scope actions as regards economic integration. It is made up of Plenipotentiaries of the member countries.

Committee of Representatives

It is the permanent political body and negotiating forum of the ALADI, where all the initiatives for the fulfillment of the objectives established by the 1980 Montevideo Treaty are analyzed and agreed on. It is composed of a Permanent Representative of each member country with right to one vote and an Alternate Representative. It meets regularly every 15 days and its Resolutions are adopted by the affirmative vote of two thirds of the member countries.

General Secretariat

It is the technical body of the ALADI, and it may propose, evaluate, study and manage for the fulfillment of the objectives of the ALADI. It is composed of technical and administrative personnel, and directed by a Secretary-General, who has the support of two Undersecretaries, elected for a three-year period, renewable for the same term.

Montevideo, ALADI's site.

Secretaries General

• 1980–1984 Julio César Schupp (Paraguay)
• 1984–1987 Juan José Real (Uruguay)
• 1987–1990 Norberto Bertaina (Argentina)
• 1990–1993 Jorge Luis Ordóñez (Colombia)
• 1993–1999 Antônio José de Cerqueira Antunes (Brasil)
• 2000–2005 Ilham Yunus Baihaqi (Indonesian)
• 2005–2008 Didier Opertti (Uruguay)
• 2008–2009 Bernardino Hugo Saguier-Caballero (Paraguay)
• 2009–2011 José Félix Fernández Estigarribia (Paraguay)
• 2011–2014 Carlos Álvarez (Argentina)

See also

• Free trade
• Free trade area
• International trade
• Central America Free Trade Agreement
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• Trade bloc
• Mercosur
• Andean Community of Nations
• Union of South American Nations
• Central American Integration System
• Caribbean Community
• Latin American Economic System
• Latin American Parliament
• PetroCaribe