Alckmin: Mercosur’s new Rules of Origin to foster ‘integration and resilience’

On Monday (27), Brazil’s Vice-President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, stated that the Mercosur’s new Rules of Origin Agreement, approved in July during the Mercosur summit in Argentina, will deepen the “integration and resilience” of the bloc’s production chains.

“We have concluded the negotiations for Mercosur’s new Rules of Origin Agreement, which is crucial to increasing the predictability of the business environment and our competitiveness in international trade. With this agreement, Mercosur will be aligned with the best international practices,” said Alckmin in a video presented during the 11th Mercosur Business Forum in Brasília.

According to MDIC (Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade), the new text adopted “best international practices,” simplifying regulations and making the origin verification and control mechanism more agile. The new rules foresee a 5% increase in the limit of imported inputs for a product to be considered of domestic origin.

Thus, for a product to be considered national, it must have a maximum of 45% of raw materials purchased from a country outside Mercosur. “This flexibility applies to 100% of industrial products and 80.5% of agricultural products – the remaining 19.5% had the percentage maintained at 40%,” the ministry reported.

According to the ministry, Argentina has the same rule as Brazil. “With different rules, Paraguay and Uruguay have limits on imported inputs of 60% and 50%, respectively,” it added.

Public procurement

During the forum’s opening on Monday (Sep 27), Alckmin also praised the Mercosur public procurement protocol. According to him, this protocol will have an “inductive effect on the inclusive and sustainable development of the bloc, in addition to making the provision of public services more efficient in our countries.”

“We have before us the challenge and opportunity to promote sustainable development in production systems, accelerating the energy transition, [as well as] environmental conservation and social inclusion,” he added.

Alckmin also highlighted Brazil’s efforts in the pro tempore presidency of the bloc to conclude agreements with the European Union and Singapore, “of geopolitical importance and a sign of integration in an increasingly fragmented world.”

Source: Agência Brasil

Click here to read the original text in Portuguese: https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2023-11/alckmin-novo-acordo-de-regras-de-origem-ajuda-producao-do-mercosul

Sharing is caring!