Pariksha SaathiIndia and MERCOSUR launch talks to expand preferential trade agreement
On 14 September 2026, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Uruguay's Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin, speaking for MERCOSUR as holder of its Pro Tempore Presidency, jointly announced the launch of negotiations to widen the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). The two sides agreed to extend the agreement to further areas of mutual interest, aiming to deepen economic ties and create more opportunities for their private sectors, and are finalising Terms of Reference that will fix the scope and structure of the expanded deal. The existing PTA has been in force since 1 June 2009 and offers tariff concessions of 10% to 100% on about 450 Indian and 452 MERCOSUR tariff lines. On the same day, India's Commerce Secretary and the ambassadors of Uruguay and Paraguay signed a protocol under which electronic Certificates of Origin, issued and electronically signed under each party's domestic law, will be valid on a par with paper certificates; it takes effect once both sides complete their internal procedures. MERCOSUR was founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay; Bolivia has since become a State Party, while Venezuela is suspended.
Drafted with AI assistance from a live web search; a second AI pass confirmed the official link above and checked a sample of the facts against it. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
MERCOSUR (the Southern Common Market) was created by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay; Venezuela later joined but is suspended, and Bolivia is a newer State Party. India and MERCOSUR signed a Framework Agreement in 2003 and the PTA in New Delhi on 25 January 2004; the PTA became operational on 1 June 2009.
Reference: MERCOSUR’s official ‘What is MERCOSUR?’ page
Check yourself: is the India-MERCOSUR agreement a free trade agreement (FTA)?
No. It is a Preferential Trade Agreement: partial-to-full tariff concessions on a limited list of about 450 Indian and 452 MERCOSUR tariff lines, not the removal of duties on substantially all trade that an FTA involves.
Revision task: separate the two outcomes of 14 September 2026: the launch of talks to expand the PTA (still to be negotiated) and the signed e-Certificate of Origin protocol (pending entry into force).
Test yourself
India and MERCOSUR launched negotiations on 14 September 2026 to expand which agreement, in force since 1 June 2009?
Show the answer
Answer: Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)
The India-MERCOSUR PTA offers tariff concessions of 10% to 100% on about 450 Indian and 452 MERCOSUR tariff lines; MERCOSUR was founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and Bolivia has since become a State Party.
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