The Chamber of Deputies approved this Wednesday (25) the text of the provisional trade agreement between the Mercosur bloc and the European Union. The plan foresees a reduction in import tariffs for several sectors within a relief schedule of up to 18 years for certain products. The text will be sent to the Senate, which will debate the proposal.
For the president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), the approval of the agreement will make Brazil reinforce an export vocation that dates back to colonization. “Today our House writes a decisive chapter for our insertion in the global market”, he declared, according to agency Chamber.
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Considered one of the largest trade treaties in the world, the Mercosur-EU agreement provides for gradual tariff reductions, expanded market access and common rules in areas such as government purchases and intellectual property.
Alckmin says the government is preparing safeguards
The vice-president and minister of Development, Industry and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin, said the government is preparing a decree on safeguards for the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The text must be sent to the Civil House, where it will undergo legal analysis before publication. Safeguards are instruments to protect national producers.
“There is always a concern in some sectors. So, today we are forwarding the proposal, to pass through the ministries, the safeguards decree”, declared Alckmin, according to Brazil agency.
One of the protected products will be Gaucho wine. There is concern that the agreement could harm the national industry, mostly concentrated in the south of the country.
To mitigate this impact, Akckmin promised that still wines (without effervescence) will have safeguard protection for eight years, while for sparkling wines the period will be 12 years.
Agreement determines “size of Brazil”, says rapporteur
The interim agreement (ITA) was signed in January this year, together with the more global agreement, which would incorporate the commercial part (ITA) plus the political and cooperation parts. The text is being processed in the form of Legislative Decree Project (PDL) 41/26 and was reported in the Plenary by deputy Marcos Pereira (Republicanos-SP).
The rapporteur defended the approval of the text which, according to him, is the decision that guarantees a better economic future for Brazil. “We’re not going to vote on just one text. We’re going to vote on how big Brazil will be in the world,” said Marcos Pereira, as quoted by agency Chamber.
After 25 years of negotiations, the agreement was approved by the European Commission and signed by Mercosur countries. However, legal review at the European level introduces an additional step before definitive ratification by the European Parliament and the national parliaments of the countries involved.
