UNASUR now a legal entity with Constitutive Treaty in force

Mar 13, 2011 News

…Foreign Affairs Ministers agree on Secretary General

Foreign Ministers of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on Friday last met in Quito, Ecuador to celebrate the entry into force of the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty and have agreed on an appointee for the post of Secretary General.
With the Constitutive Treaty in place UNASUR is now a legal entity.
This proposal however is subject to the approval of the Head of Member States.
The Treaty was signed in Brazil in May 2008 and required nine ratifications to enter into force.
In a highly celebratory atmosphere, Ecuadorian President, Raphael Correa Delgado, laid the first stone for the Permanent Headquarters of UNASUR in the City of Mitad Del Mundo.
The Headquarters will be named after the first UNASUR Secretary General, Dr. Nestor Kirchner, who passed away in September last year.
In their meeting that followed the celebrations, Foreign Ministers welcomed the entry into force of the Constitutive Treaty and urged the two remaining countries Brazil and Paraguay to ratify the Treaty as soon as possible.
With respect to the appointment of a Secretary General to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Nestor Kirchner who passed away in September 2010, the Foreign Ministers noted that there were two highly qualified candidates, Dr. Ali Rodrigues former Energy Minister of Venezuela and Maria Emma Mejia former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia.
The Ministers agreed by consensus to propose to the Heads of State and Government that the two year term be shared between the two candidates with Maria being appointed for the first year. Following the concurrence of Heads of State and Government the appointment will be made.
Recognising that free movement of people is central to any integration mechanism, the Council of Foreign Ministers also examined the Agreement for the exemption of visas and the use of Identification Cards, where possible, for movement within South America.
Prior to UNASUR there was the Community of South American Nations and in that agreement free movement of people among states was on the cards but never implemented.
UNASUR is now revisiting the possibility that this could happen.
Member States will provide the required specimens to the Depositary State, Brazil, after which the necessary internal processes will commence.
UNASUR is an intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union.

Heads of State of UNASUR during the Summit held recently in Guyana

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil.
One of the initiatives of UNASUR is the creation of a single market, beginning with the elimination of tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014, and for sensitive products by 2019.