The Signatory States Parties of MERCOSUR (the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay) and the EFTA States (Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation) announced at the MERCOSUR Summit (Buenos Aires, 2 and 3 July 2025) the conclusion of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement.
The MERCOSUR-EFTA Free Trade Agreement will create a free trade area for nearly 300 million people with a combined GDP of more than US$4.3 trillion. Both sides will benefit from improved market access for more than US$971 trillion of their exports, resulting in increased bilateral trade and benefits for businesses and individuals.
The Free Trade Agreement will create new business opportunities for economic operators in the MERCOSUR and EFTA countries, including the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises existing in each jurisdiction. It will provide greater market access and modernized regulations for customs clearance and cumulation of origin. Economic operators in the MERCOSUR and EFTA countries will benefit from greater predictability and legal certainty in trade.
As a comprehensive and broad-based Free Trade Agreement, the MERCOSUR-EFTA Treaty will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, competition, rules of origin, trade defense, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, legal and horizontal matters, including dispute settlement, and a chapter on trade and sustainable development with its corresponding Understanding.
The negotiations for the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement were preceded by an exploratory dialogue that began in March 2015. Negotiations commenced with a first round in June 2017 in Buenos Aires. MERCOSUR and EFTA held 14 negotiating rounds in total.
Since early 2025, MERCOSUR and the EFTA States have been engaged in an intensive negotiation process based on the results achieved through August 2019, with the goal of reflecting the significant progress made since then and making the agreement even more responsive to current challenges. The final stage included three rounds of in-person negotiations in Buenos Aires and numerous online meetings.
In light of the progress made, MERCOSUR and the EFTA States share a commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure the signature of the Free Trade Agreement in the coming months of 2025.
