The EU–Mercosur agreement: what changes for EU exporters to Brazil

The EU–Mercosur agreement cuts Brazil’s import duty on EU goods, but slowly and product by product. It has applied provisionally since 1 May 2026. In the twelve months to September 2026 Brazil imported US$50.6bn of goods from the EU, which at today’s rates carry about US$5.7bn of import duty a year. At constant volumes the agreement removes US$4.2bn of that by 2036, according to an analysis of Brazil’s trade and tariff data by Ethon (ethon.io), a country-launch studio working between Europe and Brazil.

This guide covers what the agreement is, when each cut lands, what it means in a few sectors, how to prove origin, which Brazilian taxes stay as they are, and who can help.

What is the EU–Mercosur agreement?

It is a trade agreement between the EU and the four Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The part that applies now is the Interim Trade Agreement, signed on 17 January 2026 and published in the EU’s Official Journal as OJ L 2026/184 on 27 February 2026. It covers trade, including the tariff schedules each side must follow. The Commission also publishes the text chapter by chapter, with the tariff annex and the rules of origin as separate files.

For an EU exporter to Brazil, the part that matters is Brazil’s schedule in Appendix 2-A-2. It lists 10,030 tariff lines, each with a base rate and a staging category that says how fast the duty falls. Brazil applies it through Receita Federal’s import systems, Duimp and DI.

Is the agreement in force, and since when?

Yes, provisionally, since 1 May 2026. The European Commission confirmed the start date in a notice of 30 April 2026 covering Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Provisional application means the tariff cuts apply while the EU’s full ratification waits for the Court’s opinion. That is the main legal risk to watch; the European Parliament’s press release of 21 January 2026 sets out the request. Check the Commission’s Access2Markets page on the agreement for the current position before you sign multi-year contracts that assume the preference.

How are the tariff cuts staged?

Each product line has a category, and the category sets the year it reaches zero. Lines in category 0 became duty-free on 1 May 2026. The others fall in equal steps every 1 January.

The shares are cumulative and come from Ethon’s matching of the schedule against Comex Stat import data for October 2025 to September 2026. Counted by lines the schedule looks fast. Weighted by what the EU actually sells Brazil it is slower, because the ten-year category alone holds 37.5% of EU import value. A further 7.1% of value is excluded, and 9.8% sits under quotas, special vehicle tables or codes that Brazil splits into sub-lines.

Two details change the rate you pay in a given year:

1. Each interim rate is truncated to one decimal. Notícia Siscomex Importação 078/2026 of 29 July 2026 says Duimp and DI cut the computed rate at the first decimal. A 16% line in category 10 pays 14.5% in 2026, 13.0% in 2027, 4.3% in 2033 and zero in 2036.
2. The cut can start from a lower rate. Article 2.4(7) of the agreement says that where Brazil’s applied rate is below the base rate, the cut applies to the applied rate. Notícia 078 says Duimp cuts from the lower of the base rate and the TEC in force, without saying whether that includes Brazil’s own reductions below the TEC. On affected lines, model both readings until Receita clarifies it.

How much does the duty fall in my sector?

It depends on the eight-digit NCM code more than on the sector, but the sector shows the pattern. These figures are shares of EU import value into Brazil, October 2025 to September 2026.

The rest of each row is under quotas, special tables or split codes.

Machinery carries the largest saving. EU machinery pays an average applied rate of 15.3% in Brazil, and at today’s volumes it saves US$1.8bn a year by 2036, 43.6% of the EU total. It is also where China is strongest, with 38.9% of Brazil’s machinery imports against the EU’s 18.5%. The statutory saving is smaller in practice for machines that already enter at reduced duty through Brazil’s ex-tarifário lines.

Plastics and rubber show the opposite case: 45.3% of EU value is excluded and gets no cut at all.

Food and drink sits mostly on the eight- and ten-year paths. Food supplements (NCM 2106.90.30) are a useful worked example. The base rate is 16%, the category is 10, and Brazil already applies 14.4%. If Receita cuts from the 16% base rate, the 2026 preferential rate of 14.5% is above the 14.4% everyone pays, so EU supplements gain nothing until 2027. If it cuts from the 14.4% applied rate, they pay 13.0% from 2026. Both paths reach zero in 2036.

What does the agreement not change?

It changes the import duty and nothing else in Brazil’s tax stack. A regular-regime importer still pays:

• IPI, at the rate in the TIPI for the product code.
• PIS and COFINS on imports, at general rates of 2.10% and 9.65% under Lei 10.865/2004.
• ICMS, the state tax, at the importing state’s rate (18% in São Paulo for the supplement example) on a base that includes the duty and the other taxes.

IPI and ICMS are calculated on a base that includes the duty, so a lower duty lowers them a little too. PIS and COFINS on imports are calculated on the customs value alone. For a business buyer most of these taxes come back as credits; the import duty does not.

Brazil’s tax reform changes the rest of the stack on its own timetable, set by Constitutional Amendment 132/2023 and Lei Complementar 214/2025:

Final CBS and IBS rates are not yet set. The combined 2033 reference rate of 27.91% used in Ethon’s analysis is an estimate based on CGIBS Resolution 14/2026. For food supplements, total border tax per 100 of customs value falls from 53.8 today to 46.3 in 2033 for a supplier without a preference, and to 33.4 or less for an EU supplier.

The agreement also does not register your product or your importer. Goods regulated by Anvisa, such as supplements, cosmetics and medical devices, or subject to INMETRO conformity assessment need the same approvals as before, and the Brazilian importer still needs its own clearance to operate in Siscomex. Payment does not change either: the importer pays you through Brazil’s foreign-exchange market, which runs under Lei 14.286/2021 and the Banco Central do Brasil’s rules.

What are the rules of origin, and how do I prove origin?

Only goods that originate in the EU under the agreement’s rules get the lower rate, and the EU exporter proves it with a statement on origin. The Brazilian importer claims the preference when it declares the goods. The Commission’s customs guidance for Mercosur sets out the steps:

1. Check that the product meets the product-specific rule for its code in the agreement’s rules of origin. The Commission’s ROSA self-assessment tool in Access2Markets walks through it.
2. Register in the EU’s REX system. A registered exporter must show its REX number on every statement on origin; an exporter that is not registered can only make one out for consignments of originating goods worth up to EUR 6,000.
3. Write the statement on origin in the format of Annex 3-C of the agreement, on the invoice or another commercial document. No signature is needed.
4. Send it to the importer. A statement is valid for 12 months from the date it was made out.
5. Keep the origin records for at least three years. The importer must keep them too.

The agreement has no “importer’s knowledge” route and no statement covering multiple shipments, so each consignment needs its own statement.

How do I check what the agreement means for my product?

Find the eight-digit NCM code, then look up its category and rates. The first six digits of your EU customs (CN) code are the international HS code, which the NCM shares. Receita Federal’s Classif search on the Siscomex portal finds the full NCM, and your importer or broker should confirm it. SECEX’s Lista Brasil gives the category for each current NCM.

Ethon’s EU–Mercosur tariff calculator is free and needs no account, login or survey. It takes a product page or an HS/NCM code and returns the TEC, Brazil’s applied rate, the agreement’s base rate and category, and the duty for each year, with the truncation rule applied. With a work email it adds the total import tax before and after the tax reform and Brazil’s import market for the code.

Who can help an EU company sell into Brazil?

Start with the public services, then add a customs broker and, if you need people on the ground, a firm that works in the market.

• The European Commission’s My Trade Assistant in Access2Markets shows Brazil’s tariffs, rules of origin and procedures by product code.
• Brazil’s Janela Única de Investimentos is the federal portal for foreign investors: opening a company, investor visas and state-by-state information.
• A Brazilian customs broker (despachante aduaneiro) and your importer file the Duimp and claim the preference.

For Italian companies, three institutions come up first:

• ICE-Agenzia, the Italian Trade Agency, has an office in São Paulo and a correspondent point in Rio de Janeiro, with desks for trade barriers, intellectual property and investment.
• The Camera di Commercio Italo Brasiliana, based in Milan and recognised by Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, advises Italian companies on legal, tax, customs and company set-up questions in Brazil.
• The Consulate General of Italy in São Paulo points companies to the Foreign Ministry’s business-assistance services and the OpportunItaly export programme.

Ethon (ethon.io) is a country-launch studio for goods and software companies expanding between Europe and Brazil. If you are still deciding whether Brazil is the right market, its free expansion map is a place to start.

Questions people ask

When does Brazil’s import duty on EU goods reach zero?

It depends on the product’s staging category. Category 0 lines went to zero on 1 May 2026; categories 4, 8, 10 and 15 reach zero on 1 January 2030, 2034, 2036 and 2041. By value, 13.2% of EU goods were duty-free from day one, 31.0% are by 2034 and 68.5% by 2036. Category E lines, 7.1% of value, never reach zero.

Does the EU–Mercosur agreement remove ICMS or IPI on imports into Brazil?

No. The agreement cuts only the import duty. IPI, PIS and COFINS on imports and the state ICMS still apply; IPI and ICMS shrink slightly because their base includes the duty. Brazil’s tax reform replaces PIS and COFINS with the CBS from 2027 and ICMS with the IBS by 2033, for all origins.

How much will EU exporters save in Brazilian import duty?

About US$4.2bn a year by 2036 across all EU goods, if volumes, prices and Brazil’s applied rates stay at their October 2025 to September 2026 level. That is three quarters of the US$5.7bn of duty EU goods carry today. The saving in 2026 is US$0.8bn to US$0.9bn, depending on which rate Receita cuts from.

Do I need to be registered in REX to export to Brazil under the agreement?

Only if a consignment of originating goods is worth more than EUR 6,000. Below that, an unregistered exporter can make out the statement on origin. Registered exporters must always show their REX number.

Could the agreement be suspended?

The EU applies it provisionally while the Court of Justice of the EU considers the European Parliament’s request of 21 January 2026 for an opinion on its compatibility with the EU treaties. The Court’s opinion, and the EU’s ratification decision after it, could change the agreement’s legal basis. Plan contracts so they still work at the applied rate.

Do Mercosur goods also get lower duty in the EU?

Yes, the EU has its own schedule for goods from Mercosur, with its own categories and quotas. It is a separate list from Brazil’s, and the Commission’s Access2Markets shows it by product code.