MERCOSUR

About

On 2 July 2025, Member States of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and of MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) concluded the negotiations on a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. The EFTA-MERCOSUR FTA was signed on 16 September 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its entry into force is currently pending.

Further details can be found in a chapter-by-chapter factsheet of the free trade agreement.

Negotiations towards the comprehensive FTA were preceded by a Joint Declaration on Cooperation signed in December 2000, under which an exploratory dialogue with a view to possible future trade negotiations was initiated in March 2015 and concluded in January 2017. Negotiations were then launched, with the first round held in June 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, followed by 14 rounds of negotiations and numerous meetings at the level of experts and heads of delegations.

Key facts

Population

Argentina:

45,538,401
Brazil:

211,140,729
Paraguay:

6,844,146
Uruguay:

3,388,081

GDP

(2023)
Argentina:

USD 646,075.28 M
Brazil:

USD 2,173,665.66 M
Paraguay:

USD 42,956.26 M
Uruguay:

USD 77,240.83 M

Date of Signature of the Agreement: 16 September 2025

Date of Entry Into Force: N/A

Imports to EFTA States

(2024)
EUR 3,072 M:

Argentina:

EUR 115 M
Brazil:

EUR 2,857 M
Paraguay:

EUR 26 M
Uruguay:

EUR 74 M

Exports from EFTA States

(2024)
EUR 5,261 M:

Argentina:

EUR 811 M
Brazil:

EUR 4,265 M
Paraguay:

EUR 23 M
Uruguay:

EUR 162 M

Information about agreement

Summary

As a comprehensive and broad-based Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the EFTA–MERCOSUR FTA covers trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition, legal and horizontal issues, including dispute settlement, and trade and sustainable development, with its corresponding Record of Understanding and promote cooperation in areas like animal welfare and sustainable agriculture.

MERCOSUR is an important trading partner for EFTA, and the FTA will allow EFTA companies to benefit from privileged access to a market of over 270 million consumers. Current EFTA bilateral trade in goods with MERCOSUR totalled EUR 8.3 billion in 2024, with EFTA exports worth EUR 5.26 billion and MERCOSUR imports EUR 3.07 billion. The new FTA will allow EFTA exporters to gain from progressive tariff elimination and ensure a level playing field with their main competitors in this important market. Furthermore, it will increase legal certainty and generally strengthen economic ties between EFTA and MERCOSUR.

Free Trade Agreement

Table of Contents

EFTA–MERCOSUR Free Trade Agreement

Annexes

Trade in Goods	Annex I	Rules of Origin and Administrative Cooperation
			Appendix 1	Product-Specific Rules
			Appendix 2	Origin Declaration
			Appendix 3	Certificate of Origin
			Appendix 4	Replacement Certificate of Origin
			Appendix 5	Extended Cumulation
	Annex II	Commitments of MERCOSUR on Goods Originating in and EFTA State
	Annex III	Commitments of Iceland on Goods Originating in MERCOSUR
	Annex IV	Commitments of Norway on Goods Originating in MERCOSUR
	Annex V	Commitments of Switzerland on Goods Originating in MERCOSUR
	Annex VI	Trade Facilitation
	Annex VII	Mandate of the Sub-Committee on Trade in Goods
	Annex VIII	Investigation and Transparency Procedures
	Annex IX	Electrical and Electronic Products
Services	Annex X	Trade in Services – Schedule of Specific Commitments
			Appendix 1	Argentina
			Appendix 2	Brazil
			Appendix 3	Paraguay
			Appendix 4	Urugay
			Appendix 5	Iceland
			Appendix 6	Liechtenstein
			Appendix 7	Norway
			Appendix 8	Switzerland
	Annex XI	List of MFN Exemptions
			Appendix 1	Argentina
			Appendix 2	Brazil
			Appendix 3	Paraguay
			Appendix 4	Urugay
			Appendix 5	Iceland
			Appendix 6	Liechtenstein
			Appendix 7	Norway
			Appendix 8	Switzerland
	Annex XII	Financial Services
	Annex XIII	Telecommunication Services
	Annex XIV	Movement of Natural Persons Supplying Services
Investment	Annex XV	Investment – Schedule of Specific Commitments
			Appendix 1	Argentina
			Appendix 2	Brazil
			Appendix 3	Paraguay
			Appendix 4	Urugay
			Appendix 5	Iceland
			Appendix 6	Liechtenstein
			Appendix 7	Norway
			Appendix 8	Switzerland
	Annex XVI	Focal Points for Investment and Agencies Responsible for Investment Promotion
Intellectual Property	Annex XVII	Protection of Intellectual Property
			Appendix	Geographical Indications
Government Procurement	Annex XVIII	Government Procurement
	Annex XIX	Rules of Procedures