EU–Mercosur agreement: what changes for Italian SMEs

If you sell to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay or Paraguay, 1 May 2026 was a good day. That’s when the interim EU–Mercosur trade agreement started applying provisionally, after a signing ceremony in Asunción on 17 January 2026 and more than a quarter of a century of on-and-off negotiation. For a lot of products, exporting got a little cheaper overnight.

The real question for an Italian SME is more down to earth. By how much does the duty on your product fall? From when? And what paperwork do you need to actually get the lower rate? For some goods the benefit is immediate. For others it’s a slow drip: the cut comes in instalments, typically spread across ten years (fifteen for a few sensitive lines).

So here’s what we’ll go through, all checked as of 1 October 2026: where the deal actually stands, how the tariff cuts are timed, the origin rules that trip people up, the support you can tap into, and a short checklist. We’ve put the official sources at the end, so you can verify every number yourself.

Planning a first market outside Italy? Our market entry strategy guide covers the questions to answer before you spend, and expanding into Latin America looks at the region country by country.

Where things stand: what’s in force, what isn’t

Two legal texts sit behind the headlines. Exporters mostly need the first one, the interim trade agreement (iTA), which handles tariffs, rules of origin, services, public procurement and intellectual property. The second, the partnership agreement (EMPA), covers political dialogue and cooperation, and will eventually take over from the iTA. Both involve the four founding members of Mercosur.

The Council of the EU signed off on the signature and provisional application of the iTA through Decision (EU) 2026/183 of 9 January 2026. Once the four South American governments had ratified their side, provisional application kicked in on 1 May 2026, with all four at once.

Instrument	Status at 1 October 2026	What is missing
Interim trade agreement (iTA)	Provisionally applied since 1 May 2026 with the four Mercosur countries	European Parliament consent for formal conclusion
Partnership agreement (EMPA)	Signed on 17 January 2026, not yet in force	European Parliament consent and ratification by all member states; it will then replace the iTA
Opinion of the EU Court of Justice	Requested by the European Parliament on 21 January 2026 (Opinion 1/26)	Pending the opinion, Parliament’s consent procedure is suspended

Brussels hasn’t gone quiet, mind you. Back on 21 January 2026, MEPs voted to send both agreements to the Court of Justice and ask whether they’re compatible with the EU Treaties (that’s Opinion 1/26). It scraped through by ten votes, 334 to 324, with 11 abstentions. Parliament says the request freezes its own approval procedure for 16 to 18 months, which didn’t stop the Commission from pressing ahead with provisional application. Poland went further and challenged Decision (EU) 2026/183 in court (case C-460/26). On 29 September 2026 the Court’s Vice-President turned down Poland’s request to suspend provisional application; the main case is still open.

Safeguards, and why farmers are unhappy

Agriculture is where the fight is. For sensitive products like beef, poultry and sugar, Mercosur goods only get preferential rates within quotas, and the beef quota, by the Commission’s reckoning, works out at 1.5% of EU production. On top of that, Regulation (EU) 2026/687 applies alongside the iTA: if imports of a sensitive product climb 5% above the three-year average, an investigation can be opened, and it has to be wrapped up within four months. Italy’s foreign ministry points out that Rome secured beefed-up safeguard clauses for certain supply chains.

Tariffs: the timetable for Made in Italy sectors

Source: European Commission, factsheets on the EU–Mercosur agreement (general and Italy factsheets).

Once everything has phased in, the agreement wipes out duties on 91% of what the EU sells to Mercosur. Most products get there within ten years; a few sensitive ones take up to fifteen. The Commission puts the saving for European exporters at more than 4 billion euros a year.

Timing is the part people misread. What happened on 1 May 2026 was only the first instalment for most products; the rest of the cut comes later. For Italian companies, the bigger money sits in industry. In 2024 they shipped 3.1 billion euros of machinery and electrical equipment to Mercosur, plus 1.2 billion of chemicals and pharma. Agri-food, for all the attention it gets, came to 489 million.

Sector	Starting Mercosur duty	What the agreement provides
Machinery and equipment	14–20%	Zero within ten years for 93% of EU exports; first cut of 1.3–1.7 points
Car parts	14–18%	Zero within ten years for 90% of EU exports; first cut of 1.3% to 1.6%
Pharmaceuticals	Up to 14%	Ten-year path to zero for 90% of EU exports; first cut of up to 1.3 points
Chemicals	Up to 18%	Reductions on different schedules by product: check your code
Textiles	35%	Eight-year path to zero for all EU exports; first cut of 3.9 points
Wine	27%	First cut, then full liberalisation within 4, 8, 10 or 15 years depending on the product; high-end sparkling wine liberalised from day one
Spirits	Up to 35%	First cut, then gradual liberalisation
Cheese	28% (dairy)	Preferential tariff quota opened in tranches: the first is 3,000 tonnes

Fashion. Textiles hit zero after eight years. For clothing and leather shoes, the Commission’s 2019 figures showed duties as high as 35%.

Agri-food. Before the deal, Mercosur charged anywhere from 27% to 55% on Italian food and drink. Wine, spirits, olive oil, pasta, chocolate and beer have already had a first cut and will be fully liberalised within 4, 8, 10 or 15 years at most. Cheese, milk powder and infant formula take a different route: quotas.

Rules of origin: proving your product is European

Here’s the bit that catches people out: the lower duty doesn’t apply by itself. Your product has to qualify as EU-originating under the specific rule for its code, and the importer needs proof of origin at the border. The importer usually handles customs. The proof, though, is your job.

On exports out of the EU there’s exactly one accepted proof, the statement on origin, which you as the exporter write yourself, using the wording the agreement prescribes. You can put it on the invoice, on the delivery note or on any other commercial document, and it’s good for 12 months. The Commission’s guidance adds a few practical rules:

• ship more than 6,000 euros’ worth of originating products in one consignment and you must be registered in the REX system, with your number on the statement;
• below that, you can make the statement without registering;
• to register for REX, use the EU Trader Portal or go through your local customs office;
• keep every statement and its supporting paperwork on file; three years is the minimum.

Not sure about your own product? The ROSA tool on Access2Markets takes you through the rule step by step. One limitation worth knowing: the agreement only allows bilateral cumulation, so Mercosur-made materials count as originating but inputs from third countries don’t. As for non-originating materials, you’re generally allowed up to 10% of the ex-works price, though textiles and clothing (chapters 50–63) play by their own rules.

Geographical indications, public tenders and services

Geographical indications. Of the 344 European GIs that Mercosur has agreed to protect, 57 are Italian, and Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Prosciutto di Parma, Prosecco and Barolo are all on the list. Not every name is protected from day one, though. In parts of Mercosur, local makers get 5, 7 or 10 years during which they can go on using the same name, or one that’s close to it. And the list is longer than you’d expect. For cheese that means names like Grana Padano, Gorgonzola, Asiago, Taleggio and Pecorino Romano. Cured meats? Prosciutto di Parma and Mortadella Bologna. Wines and spirits? Prosecco, Asti and Grappa. Some prior users named in the agreement can also carry on using terms like Parmesano, Reggianito and Fontina (and, in Brazil, Grana and Gorgonzola) under certain conditions. Look your name up on the Commission’s Italy factsheet, then check the agreement’s annexes for any exceptions.

Public procurement. Argentina and Uruguay open their federal tenders; Brazil opens federal and sub-central ones, with some exceptions. Paraguay follows within three years.

Services. EU firms can set up shop and sell most services on the same footing as local and foreign rivals. Finance, telecoms, transport, postal, digital and environmental services are all part of the opening. Italy already sells 1.9 billion euros of services a year into Mercosur.

Seven practical steps

1. Classify the product. Get the customs code wrong and you’ll misread both the duty and the origin rule. Mercosur works with its own common nomenclature, the NCM.
2. Look up the duty and the timetable. Access2Markets has a tool called My Trade Assistant, available in every EU language: type in your code and it tells you the duty, the origin rule and the other requirements. One catch, though. The deal cuts customs duties, and the domestic taxes charged on imports don’t move.
3. Pick your market. Brazil is the biggest prize and often the toughest. Going one country at a time tends to work better than a big-bang launch.
4. Sort out registrations. Plenty of products need approval in Brazil before they can be sold: think ANVISA for medicines, medical devices, cosmetics and some foods, MAPA for wine, drinks and animal products, or INMETRO certification. None of that goes away with the agreement.
5. Choose your partner carefully. Importer, distributor or agent: check references and how solid they are financially. After that, get it on paper: who handles the documents, and who’s paying the duties, taxes and other costs.
6. Make sure you get paid. Settle the Incoterms and the payment terms before anything ships. A letter of credit or credit insurance is worth considering, and so is the currency risk.
7. Speak their language. That means Portuguese in Brazil and Spanish in the other three. Doing price lists, data sheets, labels and meetings in the local language can easily save you months.

Public support: SIMEST, ICE and SACE

Three Italian public bodies can help finance the move and cover the risk.

• SIMEST (part of the CDP group) runs the subsidised loans of Fund 394/81 for internationalisation, including financing to enter foreign markets. A few of them even include a portion you don’t have to pay back. Just don’t plan around last year’s numbers: SIMEST changes percentages, caps and rates whenever a new circular comes out.
• ICE Agency is the one to call for promotion abroad, from trade fairs and trade missions to B2B meetings.
• SACE insures export credit and guarantees financing for international growth, which helps if you offer customers payment terms.

If the expansion needs fresh capital, our guide on how to raise capital in Italy is a good next read. An EU–Mercosur playbook e-book is also in preparation among our resources.

Checklist before the first shipment

• You’ve confirmed the customs code, today’s duty and the phase-out schedule on Access2Markets.
• You’ve run the rule of origin through ROSA and gathered the supporting documents.
• Your EORI number is active, you’re in REX if a single consignment will top 6,000 euros, and the statement on origin wording is ready to paste.
• You know which local approvals apply to you, whether that’s ANVISA, MAPA, INMETRO or another body.
• Your labels and technical documents exist in Portuguese for Brazil and in Spanish for the other three.
• You’ve vetted your local partner, and the contract spells out who deals with customs.
• Incoterms, payment terms and credit cover are agreed.
• In food and drink? Then you’ve checked your geographical indication against the list of 57, transition periods and exceptions included.

Questions exporters ask