Monthly Digest
May 2026
The EU-Mercosur trade pillar enters provisional application — the most consequential change for EU exporters in decades.
EU-Mercosur provisional application begins
On May 1, 2026, the interim Trade Agreement (iTA) of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement entered provisional application. This is the moment the trade provisions start to bite for exporters on both sides.
- Phased tariff elimination. Import duties on the large majority of EU-origin industrial goods are removed over transition periods (immediate to ~10–15 years depending on the product category). Sensitive sectors keep longer schedules or quotas.
- Public procurement. EU companies gain access to Brazilian public tenders for the first time — a market worth billions of euros a year. See our public procurement guide and live tenders.
- Rules of origin. Preferential rates require meeting the agreement's origin rules and presenting the correct origin documentation at clearance.
Exporter action
The preference is not automatic — it depends on your product's HS code, its position in the phase-out schedule, and origin compliance. Map your products on the EU-Mercosur tracker and model the duty in the landed cost calculator.
What doesn't change yet
Provisional application covers the trade pillar; the full Association Agreement still requires ratification by EU member states. And the EU preference only affects the Import Duty (II) — IPI, PIS/COFINS-Importação, ICMS, AFRMM and the Siscomex fee still apply on the customs value. The cascade is unchanged; only the II rate falls for qualifying EU-origin goods.