The Chamber of Deputies approves Mercosur trade agreements with Singapore and the European EFTA bloc.

The Chamber of Deputies approved, this Tuesday (9), two trade agreements: Mercosur-Singapore and Mercosur-EFTA (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). Both now go to the Senate for analysis, says a note from "Agência Câmara". In the case of Singapore, the treaty provides that the Asian country will grant immediate and full tariff exemption to all products exported by Mercosur. Mercosur, in turn, commits to progressively eliminating, within 15 years, the tariffs levied on 95.8% of Singapore's tariff lines, which corresponds to 90.8% of the total value currently imported from the Asian country. Regarding the agreement with EFTA, tariff exemption is foreseen for approximately 97% of Brazil's transactions with the European bloc and a gradual reduction of tariffs to around 1.2%. Agricultural products such as dairy products, chocolates and infant formula were included in the form of tariff quotas. On the EFTA side, the countries will eliminate 100% of import tariffs in the industrial and fishing sectors as soon as the agreement comes into effect. Considering the agricultural and industrial sectors, free trade access for Brazilian products will reach almost 99% of the exported value. Brazil may also benefit from agricultural quotas offered by Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Norway for products such as beef, poultry, corn, cornmeal, honey, and vegetable oils, among others.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.