International Trade and Economic Bloc

The intention of this paper is to discuss about the advantages and disadvantages for Ecuador if it becomes a member of the Mercado Común del Sur (Mercosur). Currently, the world is going through a change in important ways in the economy, the importance of belonging to an economic bloc is that through this you can get "mutual benefits in international trade" The Mercosur as we know is a South American economic bloc that “is integrated by Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” (Exhibit 1). The countries that belong to the MERCOSUR are differentiated by the alliance of values held and reflected in its democratic and pluralistic societies, the protection of human rights, the environment and sustainable development. MERCOSUR is also committed to strengthening democracy, eradicate poverty and strengthen the economic and social development of the members with equity.
In recent years the President of Ecuador Econ. Rafael Correa expressed his desire to become a member of this economic bloc, but what does it mean to Ecuador to join to this organization? This economic bloc offers attractive proposals for countries; among them is the establishment of a common external tariff, plus the free movement of goods and services between the member countries. For a developing country like Ecuador, it is difficult to make the decision of belonging to an economic bloc, as it must evaluate the economic factors that affect and the conditions under which it should enter to the block in order to benefit and expand its trade relations.
On the one hand, the fact that Ecuador entering to MERCOSUR brings many questions of why it should not belong to the bloc, the principal concern is especially the agricultural sector, as we know members of this organization are very similar when we talk about agricultural production, therefore there would be no an increase in exports of agricultural