EFTA and MERCOSUR sign Free Trade Agreement - Joint communiqué

The Signatory State Parties of MERCOSUR (the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay) and the EFTA States (Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation) signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 16 September 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The MERCOSUR-EFTA FTA was signed for MERCOSUR by Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Gerardo Wertheinof Argentina, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira of Brazil, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Lubetkin of Uruguay, and Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration of Paraguay Patricia Frutos. For EFTA, the signatories were Vice President Guy Parmelinof Switzerland, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, Logi Már Einarsson for Iceland, Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth of Norway, and Ambassador Frank Buechel on behalf of Liechtenstein.

The FTA will create a free trade zone of almost 300 million people and a combined GDP of more than USD 4.3 trillion. Both sides will benefit from improved market access for more than 97% of their exports, which will increase bilateral trade and translate into benefits for businesses and individuals.

The FTA will create new business opportunities for economic operators in the MERCOSUR and EFTA States, including for the high number of small and medium-sized enterprises present in each jurisdiction. It provides for improved market access and modernised regulations on custom clearance. Economic operators in the MERCOSUR and EFTA States will benefit from greater predictability and legal certainty in trade between their member countries. 

As a comprehensive and broad-based free trade agreement, the MERCOSUR-EFTA FTA will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, competition, rules of origin, trade defence, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, legal and horizontal issues including dispute settlement, and a chapter on trade and sustainable development with its corresponding Record of Understanding.

Negotiations were launched with a first round in June 2017 in Buenos Aires, and 14 rounds of negotiations were held in total.

From the beginning of 2025, MERCOSUR and the EFTA States engaged in an intense process of negotiations, building on the progress made up to August 2019 and aiming to reflect relevant developments since that date, as well as to adapt the agreement to address current challenges. This final stage included three in-person rounds of negotiations in Buenos Aires, in addition to numerous online meetings.

The MERCOSUR and EFTA States share the commitment to ensure the timely ratification of the FTA and its entry into force at the earliest opportunity.

Joint communiqué

Free Trade Agreement

EFTA-MERCOSUR

EFTA-MERCOSUR FTA Factsheet

EFTA and MERCOSUR conclude negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement