96
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Encouragingly, there are positive signs arising out of the current crisis. First, not all multilateral processes have broken down. In the LAC region, SICA has increased coordination and tried to put forward a common response to the challenges the region is facing. MERCOSUR has made an active effort to keep goods flowing between its member States even as most land borders have been closed. The institutional foundations of Eurasian integration have also proved effective in this moment of crisis. Through the Eurasian Economic Commission, supranational measures of middle and long-term support were promptly adopted. The earliest response included a temporary export ban and a lowering of import duties on products vital to preventing the virus’ spread and ensuring care for those infected and guaranteeing economic and food security (e.g., personal protective equipment, diagnostic reagents personal protective equipment and diagnostic reagents, as well as certain types of basic foodstuffs). Furthermore, those products were subject to import procedure simplification, such as simplifying the process for submitting certificates of origin. In April 2020, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council adopted a decree containing measures aimed at ensuring macroeconomic stability and supporting economic growth: the measures proposed were meant to assist EAEU governments in developing and reinforcing measures to localize the spread of coronavirus and minimize the pandemic’s social and economic consequences. The propositions include permission to import goods initially intended for third countries even without the necessary labelling. In the sphere of economic recovery, the recommendations foster e-commerce and digitalize clearing procedures, but also aim to accelerate free trade negotiations. Importantly, the short- and long-term EAEU recovery measures adopted at the supranational level were elaborated based on EEC research identifying the depth and peculiarities of the economic crisis while considering what a new world order will be like. The growth forecasts and the major conclusions were stated in the EEC report “Mechanisms to address the threats to macroeconomic stability in the face of global economic crisis provoked by pandemic” (EEC, 2020b). There have been several examples of positive cooperation in working to overcome the current crisis. China and Mexico arranged an airlift through which deliveries of Chinese emergency goods began to arrive in Mexico once the crisis had begun to ebb in the former country and was still on the upswing in the latter. Before the health crisis was strongly felt in the Russian Federation, it sent emergency aid to hard-hit Northern Italy. These are just two examples of the many forms of positive cooperation between distant and very distinct countries, many of which are also examples of South-South cooperation. Much of the LAC region is aligned with EAEU member States in their support of and belief in the multilateral system. The two regions should be able to benefit from further cooperation in international institutions that support and coordinate the COVID-19 response and preparedness for future pandemics. The United Nations and its agencies are the obvious avenue through which such cooperation should take place. Cooperation to strengthen and, if necessary, reform international institutions should be given a prominent spot on the common policy agenda of the two regions.
B.
Trade expansion
The significant peculiarity of the currently observed structure of trade between EAEU and LAC region is the fact that member States have not been equally advanced in identifying and benefiting from diverse market niches in geographically distant countries. For some EAEU States, including Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, this is evident from the ever-changing trade that
