1980 Montevideo Treaty

The Treaty of Montevideo of 1980 establishing the Latin American Integration Association was signed in Montevideo, Uruguay on 12 August 1980 and entered into force on 18 March 1981. He thus renewed the Treaty of Montevideo of 1960, the Treaty establishing the Latin American Free Trade Area. The contract contains a Framework Agreement, after the bilateral and sub-regional economic agreements a gradual integration of the region as a whole should be made possible. But neither deadlines nor specific mechanisms have been enshrined in the Treaty text but. Examples of such sub-regional agreements that have come after the contract is, are Mercosur or the group of three. Furthermore, a so-called habilitation clause was inserted in order to circumvent the MFN clause in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT ) and to promote regional integration in the contract. All participating countries were at the time of signature already members of the Latin American Free Trade Association, which are:

Cuba ratified as the 12th member of the treaty in 1999. Treaty ratification is open to all Latin American countries.