The EU-Mercosur trade agreement: who claims the lower tariff in the EU
Since 1 May 2026 the European Union has charged lower tariffs on goods from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the four members of the South American trade bloc Mercosur. The exporter proves where the goods come from, and the importer in the EU claims the lower tariff when the goods clear customs. Several quotas for farm products are reserved for licence holders established in the EU. An exporter that wants to use them in its own name therefore needs its own company in the EU.
Ask about your situationThe importer in the EU claims the lower tariff in the customs declaration that releases the goods for sale in the EU, known as release into free circulation. It bases that claim on the statement on origin that the exporter makes out. That importer can be your buyer, a customs representative that declares the goods for you, or your own company in the EU.
Several tariff-rate quotas, which admit a fixed volume each year at a lower duty, are managed with import licences, for example for beef, poultry, sugar and ethanol. Only a company established and registered for value added tax (VAT) in the EU can have such a licence (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/760, Article 3). To use those quotas in your own name you therefore set up your own EU company, or you sell to an EU importer that has the licence.
Your own EU company also acts as the importer for customs, VAT and EU product rules, and it can keep stock close to your buyers. When you sell from that stock, the tariff saving becomes part of your own margin.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Who does what
We set up and manage the Dutch importer, while customs agents and specialists handle the declarations, the quota licences and the deforestation rules. You have one point of contact.
Your company
- Your products and the product codes
- The statement on origin on your invoices
- Your EU buyers and your prices
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch private limited company (BV) by power of attorney, with the notary
- EU customs number (EORI number), VAT number and the Article 23 application
- Bookkeeping and VAT returns, month by month
- One point of contact for customs, bank and partners
Customs, quotas, deforestation rules
- Customs agent for the declarations and the preference codes
- Import licences for quotas and the securities
- Due diligence statements under the EU deforestation rules (EUDR) for soy, coffee, cattle and wood
- Warehouse in the Netherlands
Step by step
From an export to an EU buyer to imports in the name of your own EU company.
- You share your product codes, volumes and buyers. We advise which import set-up suits you and whether your products fall under a quota.
- The notary sets up the Dutch BV under a power of attorney and signs the deed once all documents are complete.
- We apply for the customs number (EORI), the VAT number and the Article 23 licence, and for quotas with licences we register your company for import licences.
- Your exporter makes out a statement on origin on every invoice, quoting its national tax number (CNPJ in Brazil, CUIT in Argentina or RUT in Uruguay).
- The customs agent declares the first import with preference code 300 or 320 and document code U126.
- Each month we keep the books and file the VAT return, and the origin documents are kept for at least three years.
The status of the agreement
The EU and the four Mercosur countries signed the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and an interim Trade Agreement on 17 January 2026. The Council had decided on the signature and the provisional application on 9 January 2026 (Council Decision (EU) 2026/183). The Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) published the text of the interim Trade Agreement on 27 February 2026 (OJ L, 2026/184).
The interim Trade Agreement has applied provisionally since 1 May 2026 with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (notice OJ L, 2026/868).
On 21 January 2026 the European Parliament asked the Court of Justice of the EU for an opinion on the agreements. Parliament votes on its consent after the Court has given that opinion. The EU adopted a regulation with safeguards for agricultural products on 5 March 2026 (Regulation (EU) 2026/687, in force since 9 April 2026).
How the tariffs come down
Once the agreement is fully implemented, 92% of Mercosur exports to the EU will be free of duty. The EU phases out its duties on all industrial goods over ten years and removes them on 82% of its agricultural imports. The remaining farm products fall under tariff-rate quotas.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/996 sets the volumes. The beef quota is 9,075 tonnes fresh and 7,425 tonnes frozen for 2026, rising to 99,000 tonnes in total from 2031, at a duty of 7.5% within the quota. The poultry quota is 30,000 tonnes in 2026, rising to 180,000 tonnes from 2031, free of duty. Sugar for refining, ethanol, pigmeat, maize and sorghum, cheese, milk powder and eggs also have quotas with licences.
Access2Markets, the trade database of the European Commission, shows the duty for your product code in each year of the phase-out.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Proving origin with a statement on origin
The exporter makes out a statement on origin on the invoice or another commercial document. EU exporters quote their registered exporter number (REX). Exporters in Mercosur quote their national tax number, which is the company registration number in Brazil (CNPJ), the tax identification code in Argentina (CUIT) and the tax register number in Uruguay (RUT). Paraguay issues certificates of origin.
For a transition period of three years, which can be extended by up to two years, the EU also accepts certificates of origin from Mercosur. A statement on origin is valid for 12 months, and the importer bases its claim for the lower tariff on that statement.
The importer keeps the statement for at least three years after the import (Article 3.22). Customs can ask the exporting country to verify it, and that country has ten months to reply, after which customs can refuse the lower tariff (Article 3.25(6) and (7)).
How the EU importer claims the tariff
The importer claims the tariff with codes in the customs declaration. It enters the country code of origin, or 5500 for Mercosur, in data element 16 09. The preference code 300, or 320 for goods within a quota, goes in data element 14 11. Document code U126 for the statement on origin goes in data element 12 03.
A customs agent enters these codes for you on the basis of the exporter’s documents.
Quotas with import licences
For quotas managed with licences, the applicant must be established and registered for VAT in the EU (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/760, Article 3(1)). The licences can be transferred to another company (Article 7(1)). With each application the importer lodges a financial guarantee, called a security (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/996). For each shipment it also needs a quota authorisation certificate from the Mercosur country of export (Article 3.30 of the agreement), following the model in notice OJ L, 2026/874. From 1 January 2027 importers of beef and poultry also register in the EU database for import licences (LORI).
Other quotas, for example for biodiesel, infant formula and cane spirits, are allocated in the order in which declarations reach customs, on a first come, first served basis (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/888). For those quotas the importer claims its share in the customs declaration, together with the quota authorisation certificate from the country of export.
What your own EU company can do
EU customs law requires the declarant, the party that lodges the customs declaration, to be established in the EU, with a few exceptions such as transit (Union Customs Code, Article 170). A Brazilian exporter therefore sells to an EU importer, imports through an EU customs representative or sets up its own EU company. With a Dutch company of your own, that company is the importer. It claims the tariff, applies for quota licences where needed and obtains the Article 23 licence to defer import VAT. It can also sell to buyers across the EU from stock in the Netherlands.
For soy, coffee, cattle products and wood, the EU importer is also the operator, the company legally responsible for due diligence, under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The regulation applies from 30 December 2026 to large and medium companies and from 30 June 2027 to small companies.
Dividends from the Dutch company to a parent company in Brazil can be exempt from Dutch dividend tax. The exemption covers parent companies in countries with a tax treaty, Brazil included, provided the holding and anti-abuse conditions are met (Dividend Tax Act 1965, Article 4(2)).
Last reviewed: October 2026. Sources: Council Decision (EU) 2026/183; notice on provisional application, OJ L, 2026/868; European Commission, Access2Markets and the guidance on the rules of origin of the interim Trade Agreement (April 2026); Implementing Regulations (EU) 2026/996 and 2026/888; Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/760; Union Customs Code, Article 170; European Parliament, legislative train on the EU-Mercosur agreements; Dutch Dividend Tax Act 1965, Article 4. Checked on 25 September 2026.
Common questions
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Related guides
Further reading for exporters from Latin America and on EU trade agreements.