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By the time this article is published, Mexico will no doubt have officially become the OECD's 5th member country. This accession is a very important even in the history of the Organisation, for a number of reasons.
To begin with, because it is the first in over twenty years, since New Zealand joined the OECD in 1973. Next, because an organisation that has been used for so long to working with the same 4 countries cannot help but be affected by the arrival of a newcomer, perhaps more so than one might initially expect. Indeed, by welcoming Mexico, it is taking in a major country which, in terms of overall GNP (360 billion US$ in 1993 is the ninth-largest OECD economy and the thirteenth-largest world economy. For the first time, the OECD is inviting a new member which emerged from he ranks of the developing countries thanks to a dramatic process of political and economic reform and modernisation. In doing so, the OECD is also reaching out to Latin America, a part of the world that has hitherto been outside its bounds, thereby confirming its global (but not universal vocation. Lastly, the accession is important because it is probably the first of several that could lead to an appreciable enlargement of the Organisation. Clearly, then, the process that has led to Mexico's accession, and the terms and conditions Mexico has accepted, have a significance that transcends the importance of this one country alone.
Mexico is no stranger to the OECD. As a developing country, it has long been the subject of studies by the Organisation, in particular those by the Development Centre and the Development Assistance Committee.
More recently, it has emerged on the international economic scene as an important player,(1) with which the Organisation has wished to carry on mutually beneficial discussions. In 1978, the volume of Mexican steel production prompted the Organisation to invite Mexico, along with three other countries (Brazil, India and the Republic of Korea) to participate in the OECD Steel Committee; this invitation was initially declined, but Mexico later agreed to begin discussions within the context of a committee set up in 1982 to liaise with the Steel Committee. Until 1990, this body was the only point of contact between...