Introduction of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement
The European Union and the four founding countries of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) completed negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement on 6 December 2024. The interim trade agreement containing the rules of origin will apply provisionally from 1 May 2026 between the EU and all Mercosur countries. As such, the customs administration has published several documents to understand the introduction of this interim agreement.
DGDI explains how to read and apply the chapter « origin » the agreement to guide customs and business on the conditions for obtaining a tariff advantage. It also states that the interim agreement covers only those parts of the EU's exclusive competence, pending the final global agreement.
Mercosur brings together Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and negotiations with the EU began in 1999, before reaching an agreement in principle in 2019 and then finalisation of the negotiations in December 2024. The text also recalls the economic weight of EU/Mercosur trade and stresses that France has a positive trade balance with this area, with a strong concentration of trade on Brazil.
The agreement foresees a sharp reduction in customs duties: 91% of the Mercosur-side duties on EU products and 92% of the EU-side duties on Mercosur products, with an estimated savings of over EUR 4 billion per year. It also includes protection of around 350 geographical indications, a €1.5 billion cooperation fund and sustainability commitments, including against deforestation.
Mercosur will phase out its duties on the majority of European products over a period of up to 10 years or even 18 years for certain sensitive products. The EU will also remove most of its duties on imports from Mercosur, with tariff quotas for sensitive products such as beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey or certain meat and dairy products. The agreement also covers export taxes applied by certain Mercosur countries and provides for safeguard clauses to protect national sectors in the event of a sharp increase in imports.
The documents are devoted to the rules for proving that a product originates in the EU or Mercosur and can therefore benefit from the preferential tariff. The agreement is based on self-certification by the exporter, without a more complex combined system, with only administrative cooperation between customs for controls. The text then details the key concepts: bilateral cumulation, products entirely obtained, tolerances, insufficient operations, territoriality, transport, exposures and treatment of assortments.
To request the tariff preference, imports into the EU must be declared with the preferential code 300 and the document code U126 corresponding to the certificate of origin. The certificate may be drawn up by the exporter on an invoice or trade document, with specific rules for the EU, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, as well as a transitional phase for certain Mercosur countries using a certificate of origin. The document shall also specify the periods of validity, the supporting documents to be kept and the requirements for archiving for at least three years.
In case of doubt or by sampling, the customs authorities may request verification of origin from the exporting country. The procedure provides for an exchange of information, deadlines for reply, the possibility of temporarily suspending the tariff preference and then refusing it if the origin cannot be confirmed within the time limits.
The documents provided explain, in practice, how companies can benefit from the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement depending on whether they are exporting from the EU or importing into the EU. They present three cases: European exporter, European importer with certificate of origin and European importer with certificate of origin during the transitional period.
The objective is to facilitate the use of the tariff preferences provided for in the Agreement, provided that the products comply with the rules of origin and the rule of origin. « non-modification » during transport.
The exporter must first verify that its products originate in the EU and that they are subject to import duties in Mercosur. If the value of the consignment exceeds 6,000 €, he must have an REX number, collect evidence of origin, draw up a certificate of origin on invoice or commercial document, and then forward it to the importer. It must also keep the proofs for at least three years and prepare for possible customs checks.
The importer must verify that the products are subject to import duties in the EU, recover the certificate of origin provided by the exporter from Mercosur and ensure that the document contains the required reference number according to the country of origin: ITUC for Argentina, NPCJ for Brazil, UTR for Uruguay. He must then claim the tariff benefit in his customs declaration with code 300, the correct country code and document code U126, and then keep the certificate for at least three years.
A three-year transitional phase is planned, during which some Mercosur exporters may use a certificate of origin referred to by the competent authorities of their country. In this case, the European importer follows almost the same steps, but he must ensure that the certificate accompanies the goods and that he mentions « MERCOSUR ».