In January 2011, Venezuelan and Uruguayan Presidents met in Caracas to strengthen trade, signing 12 bilateral agreements promoting agriculture. Venezuela, an associate Mercosur member since 2005, awaits approval from Paraguay's Parliament for full member status with Mercosur. Recently, EU's Trade Commissioner visited Paraguay and Uruguay to advance FTA negotiations. More meetings are set for March prior to the Mercosur Summit hosted by the rotating chair, Paraguay. Free trade talks resumed in May 2010 after years of idleness related to agriculture and service issues.

However, France and others continue to monitor talks to be certain fair trade is reached, especially in regard to agriculture. New Zealand's Prime Minister also announced plans to prepare for FTA talks with Mercosur. US Congress is also using the EU and Mercosur's recent FTAs with South Korea to promote progress on KORUS, US-South Korea FTA.

USDA FAS forecasts Argentina's poultry production to increase nine per cent due to beef production declines, creating reduced protein supplies and increased poultry consumption. Poultry consumption is expected to gain a larger share of total meat consumption. Broiler producers can expect to export gains due to limited production and export regulations.
Source: USDA FAS/PSD Online/Senasa/AliceWeb Mercosul/Various News Wires

Total Mercosur poultry meat exports by country and volume (in thousand metric tons)
Note: All data is January-December except for 2010*, which only includes January-August
Source: AliceWeb Mercosul

Further Reading

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