INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS - MERCOSUR

International Organizations

Mercosur

Characteristics :

Type : Intergovermental

Establishment : Treaty of Asunción (March 26th 1991) and
Protocol of Ouro Preto (December 16th 1994)
Headquarters : Montevideo, San Pablo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas
Official Languages : Spanish, Portuguese, Guarani

Full Members : 5 (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela)
Associated Members : 5 (Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú)
Observer Members : 2 (México, New Zealand)

Area : 19.326.961 km2 (Full members only)
Population : 288.996.820 (2012)
Density : 15 / km2

Description:

Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, Guarani: Ñemby Ñemuha, in English: “Southern Common Market”) is a sub-regional bloc.

Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Its associate countries are Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname. And, Observer countries are New Zealand and Mexico.

Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. The official languages are Spanish, Portuguese and Guarani. It has been updated, amended, and changed many times since. It is now a full customs union and a trading bloc. Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations are customs unions that are components of a continuing process of South American integration connected to the Union of South American Nations.

Geography :

The territory of Mercosur consists of the combined territories of five of the 12 countries of South America and their population. Including the overseas territories of member states, Mercosur experiences most types of climate from Antarctic to tropical, rendering meteorological averages for Mercosur as a whole meaningless. The majority of the population lives in areas with a subtropical climate (Uruguay, Southern Paraguay, Northeastern Argentina and Southern and Southeastern Brazil), or a tropical climate (Venezuela and Northeastern Brazil).

Merchandise Trade :

Intra-Mercosur merchandise trade (excluding Venezuela) grew from US$10 billion at the inception of the trade bloc in 1991, to US$88 billion in 2010; Brazil and Argentina each accounted for 43% of this total. The trade balance within the bloc has historically been tilted toward Brazil, which recorded an intra-Mercosur balance of over US$5 billion in 2010. Trade within Mercosur amounted to only 16% of the four countries' total merchandise trade in 2010, however; trade with the European Union (20%), China (14%), and the United States (11%) was of comparable importance. Exports from the bloc are highly diversified, and include a variety of agricultural, industrial, and energy goods. Merchandise trade with the rest of the world in 2010 resulted in a surplus for Mercosur of nearly US$7 billion; trade in services, however, was in deficit by over US$28 billion. The EU and China maintained a nearly balanced merchandise trade with Mercosur in 2010, while the United States reaped a surplus of over US$14 billion; Mercosur, in turn, earned significant surpluses (over US$4 billion each in 2010) in its trade with Chile and Venezuela. The latter became a full member in 2012.

Philatelic Issues

2016 – Uruguay – Unique Stamp, from Mercosur Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: April 25th, 2016
Printed: 15.000 Copies
Type: Unique Stamp from Series
Value:UYP 60

Stamp: Rectangular
Size: 39 mm. x 27 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated

URU - 2012 - #026 - COVER sent on First Day - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

GO TO DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE

URU - 2012 - #026 - FDC sent on First Day - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

GO TO DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE

URU - 2012 - #026 - STAMP 2 - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

GO TO DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE

URU - 2012 - #026 - FDC not sent - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

GO TO DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE

URU - 2012 - #026 - STAMP 1 - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

GO TO DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE

URU - 2012 - #026 - SERIE - MERCOSUR, ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

Uruguay - 2012 - Mercosur, Alternative Energies

Options:

SERIE --- 2,20 EUR
STAMP 1 --- 1,70 EUR
STAMP 2 --- 1,70 EUR
FDC not Sent --- 3,30 EUR
FDC Sent on First Day --- 8,00 EUR
COVER Sent on First Day --- 6,00 EUR

If you are interested in any of this items, or any other items from Uruguay, just make a donation including your e-mail in the description.

I will contact you as soon I receive your donation, we agree on which items do you need, and I will discount the donation done to the amount of your purchase.

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: October 5th, 2012
Printed: 15.000 copies of each one

Stamp Shape and Size: Both Rectangular [39 mm. x 27 mm.]
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated

Block Configuration: 25 stamps [5 x 5]
Block Shape and Size: Rectangular [Unknown Size]

FDC Shape and Size: Rectangular [165 mm. x 105 mm.]
Cover Shape and Size: Rectangular [239 mm. x 159 mm.]

Catalogue information:

Michel: No Data Available
Ivert: No Data Available
Scott: No Data Available
Stanley & Gibbons: No Data Available

Topics:

Issue:

This serie of 2 stamps is the periodical joint issue of the countries that form the Mercosur.

This organization is an economic and political agreement between the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

It was founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto.

The original composition of this group was Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay. Later, many other countries of Southamerica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela joined the group as Associate Members, and also Mexico and New Zealand joined Mercosur as Observers.

In recent events, after impeachment of the president of Paraguay "Fernando Lugo", this country was suspended in the Mercosur, and Venezuela joined the group as full member.

Each year a topic is selected, and the post offices of the members of the group issue a serie with this theme. This year the topic selected was "Alternative Energies".

Alternative Energies are considered the ones that are produced without the underisable consequences of burning of fossil fuels. However, sometimes it is also excluded from this kind energies the nuclear energy as a way to focus in less risky energies.

Then, in a deep look in the stamp, you can find the Crux, or Southen Cross constelation, as the logo for the Mercosur.

The Crux, is a well known constelation of the southern hemisphere, located near the Centaurus and the Musca.

Also The Crux, as an astronomical item in the sky, was used as a navigational aids, because following the line of the great stick of the cross, the line determined by stars Acrux y Gacrux, you find the Southern Celestial Pole..

Finally, four more topics can be spotted in the design of both stamps, one is plants, or vegetal kindom, also beneath this topic, flowers, then, as in both design we see cultivated fields, agronomy is a topic for the stamp too, and the forth topic it is not related with the previous, and is the hand, as a part of the human body.

Stamp 1:

The main topic of the first stamp of the issue is the use of the bagasse of the Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) in the production of electric energy.

Sugarcane, or Sugar cane, is any of six to 37 species (depending on which taxonomic system is used) of tall perennial true grasses of the genus Saccharum, tribe Andropogoneae.

Sugarcane belongs to the grass family (Poaceae), an economically important seed plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum and many forage crops.

The world demand for sugar is the primary driver of sugarcane agriculture.

Then, for representing electric energy, a transmission tower, or electricity pylon, with a kind of electric ray or discharge, is shown.

Stamp 2:

The main topic of the second stamp of the issue is the use of the seeds of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in the production of biodiesel.

Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence (flowering head). The sunflower is named after its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image are often used to depict the sun..

From the Americas, sunflower seeds were brought to Europe in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient.

In recent times, on late seventies of the twenty century, Sunflower seeds started to be used for the production of Biodiesel.

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat (tallow[1][2])) with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters.

In the design of the stamp you can see a sunflower in the foreground, there you can see the particular pattern of florets in it. This pattern was proposed by H. Vogel in 1979, that find a description for it expressed in polar coordinates.

The sunflower also is the national flower of Ukraine, it is also used as a symbol of Green Ideology, and for Veganism.

Finally, to represent biodiesel, a gasoline pump is shown, with a drop falling from it.

FDC:

The Cancelation of the FDC includes in his design only two kids, one boy and one girl, with the flower of Sunflower and Sugarcan in his hands.

If you consider that there are another topics in this stamp, that were not spot in this review, you are encouraged to telling me about them, so please do not hesitate to post a comment. I would appreciate your help very much.