India, MERCOSUR initiate talks to expand Preferential Trade Agreement

India and the South American trade bloc MERCOSUR have launched negotiations to expand their existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), seeking to deepen economic ties, widen market access and create new opportunities for businesses on both sides.Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin, representing Uruguay’s Pro Tempore Presidency of MERCOSUR, jointly announced the launch of the negotiations.
The proposed expansion aims to cover additional areas of mutual interest and strengthen economic engagement between India and the five-member MERCOSUR bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.India and MERCOSUR are currently working to finalise the Terms of Reference (ToR), which will define the scope and structure of the expanded agreement.
The move builds on the existing India-MERCOSUR PTA, signed on January 25, 2004, and brought into force on June 1, 2009. The agreement currently provides preferential tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines by India and 452 tariff lines by the MERCOSUR side.In a parallel step to modernise trade procedures, India and MERCOSUR on September 14 signed the First Additional Protocol to the PTA to facilitate the acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin.

From paper to digital. From procedures to possibilities.
The Commerce Secretary @RajeshAgrawal94 today signed the First Additional Protocol to the India-MERCOSUR PTA on India’s behalf, facilitating acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin.
Another concrete step towards… pic.twitter.com/zV1aGCjA31

— Dept of Commerce, GoI (@DoC_GoI) September 14, 2026

The protocol provides that electronically issued Certificates of Origin will have the same legal validity and value as paper certificates, subject to the respective domestic laws of the parties.The measure is expected to support paperless trade, reduce transaction costs and processing time, and make customs procedures more efficient.The protocol follows decisions taken at meetings of the Joint Administrative Committee of the India-MERCOSUR PTA in November 2025 and April 2026.

(Business Correspondent)