Brazil promulgates free trade agreement between Mercosur and EFTA

The Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was promulgated this Friday (25) in Presidential Decree No. 13,126, published in the Official Gazette of the Union.

The bloc of European countries is made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are not members of the European Union. The South American group includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay - Venezuela has remained suspended as a member state since 2017.

According to Planalto, the decree published this Friday concludes the process of internalizing the treaty in Brazil, establishing “commitments to expand trade and investment flows between the countries of the two blocs”. On a legal level, it will come into force on October 1, 2026.

The treaty provides for the expansion of trade and investments between the two blocs, with the reduction of technical barriers, in addition to sanitary and phytosanitary measures considered unnecessary for trade.

In addition, it provides for more facilities for customs procedures and greater access to government procurement markets.

Appointments

Signed on September 16, 2025 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the document also establishes commitments in the areas of intellectual property, sustainable development, environmental protection, biodiversity and human rights.

“For Brazil, the agreement expands the possibilities for national products to enter the markets of EFTA countries and creates conditions for increased trade and investment flows”, informed the Presidency of the Republic.

The agreement also provides for the recognition and protection of geographical indications, a mechanism aimed at valuing products linked to certain regions of origin.

According to Planalto, negotiations between the two blocks were concluded in 2025, after ten rounds that began in 2017.