India and Mercosur to Open Talks on Expanding Preferential Trade Agreement

15 September 2026National

India and Mercosur announced on 14 September 2026 that they will begin negotiations to widen their Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), in force since June 2009, with Terms of Reference being drawn up to define the scope. India currently enjoys duty concessions on 450 product categories and Mercosur on 452. Bilateral trade stood at about US$21 billion in 2025. The two sides also signed the First Additional Protocol to the PTA, providing for paperless trade and acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin, agreed at the fifth Joint Administrative Committee meeting on 9 April 2026. The expansion is intended to move towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

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Mercosur, the Southern Common Market, was created by the Treaty of Asuncion (1991); its full members are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia | A PTA offers tariff concessions on selected goods, an FTA removes tariffs on most goods, and a customs union adds a common external tariff | India's other preferential arrangements include the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) and the India-Chile PTA

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