São Francisco Valley grapes to enter Europe tariff-free from May

Grape exports from Brazil’s São Francisco Valley will enter Europe duty-free starting May 1 under the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The expectation is that the tariff exemption will increase returns for growers.

The information was confirmed by Agriculture Minister André de Paula last Thursday (April 16) during an event in Pernambuco state. According to Waldyr Promicia, president of the Brazilian Association of Fruit Producers and Exporters, the tax exemption will bring higher profits to growers. “Zero tariffs will open opportunities for other producers who may not have been exporting to start exporting, because margins will now be higher,” he said.

According to Promicia, the exemption for grapes is only the beginning of the removal of export tariffs on other domestically produced fruits, such as melon, avocado, lemon and apples. The expectation is that those fruits will obtain tariff-free access to Europe within seven years.

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The measure is also expected to increase the fruit’s international competitiveness. According to Jailson Lira, president of the Petrolina Rural Producers Union, Brazil’s export tariff to Europe had ranged from 8% to 14%. Meanwhile, countries such as Chile and Peru, which are not part of Mercosur, do not pay tariffs to export to the bloc.

Lira added that grapes grown in the São Francisco Valley become even more attractive because production in Europe begins to decline from September onward. “Temperate countries only produce once a year. In the case of grapes, from September onward, the weather in those countries starts to make production and harvesting more difficult. They run short of those fruits, and that is when we offer fruit from Brazil,” he said. Production in the Brazilian region takes place year-round, with two harvests each semester, while European countries have only one.

João Ricardo Lima, coordinator of Embrapa Semiárido’s mango and grape market observatories, said the exported variety in the region is fine table grapes. “With the use of technology and irrigation, the São Francisco Valley has become the main production hub for fine table grapes. São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Paraná also produce them, but in smaller volumes and more oriented toward the domestic market,” he said.

São Francisco Valley leads grape exports

According to Abrafrutas data, Pernambuco and Bahia, the two states that make up the São Francisco Valley region, led Brazil’s grape exports in 2025. Pernambuco alone exported 42,500 tonnes, generating $110.6 million during the period. Brazil as a whole exported 62,000 tonnes in the same year, for revenue of $158.6 million.

The figures also show that European countries are the main destinations for Brazilian grape exports. According to March 2026 data from Embrapa, based on Comexstat information from the Development Ministry, the leading export destinations in the month were the Netherlands, with 58.76%, the United Kingdom, with 12.66%, and Canada, with 9.67%. Among the main states of origin, Pernambuco led with 65.72%, followed by Bahia with 30.34%.

Source: Diário de Pernambuco

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