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Mercosur and Uruguay's trade agreements: common external tariff, Mexico, Singapore and the EU interim agreement

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Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Changing

Uruguay trades inside Mercosur, so goods from outside the bloc pay the common external tariff set line by line in the Mercosur common nomenclature (NCM), applied in Uruguay through Decreto Nº 430/021. On top of Mercosur's internal free trade, Uruguay has preferential access with Mexico (bilateral free trade treaty in force since 15 July 2004), Singapore (Mercosur agreement in force for Uruguay since 1 March 2026) and the European Union (interim trade agreement applied provisionally since 1 May 2026). Preferences only apply when the goods meet the agreement's origin rules and the importer files the right origin proof and, for quota goods, the quota licence.

USD figures use UYU 40.214 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 26 October 2026, and UI amounts use UYU 6.6792 per UI, the BCU Unidad Indexada value for 27 October 2026, both retrieved from the BCU quotations service on 27 October 2026; conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Mercosur EU Interim Trade Agreement applied provisionally since	2026-05-01 dateLey Nº 20.462, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Share of trade with the EU at zero Mercosur tariff from the start	75 % of trade (approx.)Ley Nº 20.462, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Mercosur Singapore agreement in force for Uruguay since	2026-03-01 dateLey Nº 20.428, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Uruguay Mexico Free Trade Treaty (ACE 60) in force since	2004-07-15 dateLey Nº 17.766, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Tariff nomenclature applied	NCM (Mercosur) on HS seventh amendment Decreto Nº 430/021, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Uruguay is a founding party of the Treaty of Asunción, which created the Mercosur common market with Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The common market implies free circulation of goods among the members through the elimination of customs duties and non tariff restrictions, and a common external tariff and common trade policy toward non members. In practice this means Uruguay cannot set its own general tariff on goods from outside the bloc and negotiates most new free trade agreements together with its Mercosur partners.
Cost to do it: No fee to use Mercosur preferences; the goods must qualify under the Mercosur origin rules with the supporting origin documentation.
Example: Qualifying Mercosur goods worth UYU 4,021,400 enter under the Mercosur preference instead of the extra zone tariff of their NCM line. / US$100,000 of qualifying Mercosur goods: Mercosur preference instead of the extra zone tariff.Ley Nº 16.196 approving the Treaty of Asunción (Tratado para la Constitución de un Mercado Común), Treaty art. 1, 1991-07-22 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM), adjusted to the seventh amendment of the Harmonized System, and its Common External Tariff apply in Uruguay from 1 January 2022 to all foreign trade operations. The tariff schedule itself is an annex published on the Presidency and Ministry of Economy websites rather than in the Official Gazette, so the rate for a given ten digit NCM line must be checked in that annex and its later amendments.
Cost to do it: The tariff is a percentage of customs value that varies by NCM line; there is no fee to consult the schedule.
Example: On UYU 4,021,400 of goods from outside Mercosur, a line with a hypothetical 14 percent tariff costs UYU 562,996; a 0 percent line costs nothing in tariff. / US$100,000 of extra zone goods: US$14,000 of tariff at a hypothetical 14 percent rate, zero on a 0 percent line.Decreto Nº 430/021 (internalizing Mercosur Grupo Mercado Común Resolution Nº 16/21), Art. 1 and art. 2, 2021-12-20 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The Uruguay Mexico Free Trade Treaty, signed in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on 15 November 2003 and registered in ALADI as Economic Complementation Agreement Nº 60, was approved by Uruguay by law and entered into force on 15 July 2004, replacing ACE Nº 5. Its tax regime was later amended by exchange of notes approved by Ley Nº 18.166, and three additional protocols followed, the third in force since 16 February 2025 according to the Ministry of Economy. It is a bilateral agreement, so it does not require the other Mercosur members.
Cost to do it: No fee for the preference; the goods need a valid certificate of origin under the treaty.
Example: Mexican origin goods worth UYU 4,021,400 that qualify under the treaty enter at the preferential tariff agreed for their line rather than the Mercosur external tariff. / US$100,000 of qualifying Mexican goods: treaty tariff instead of the common external tariff.Ley Nº 17.766 approving the Uruguay Mexico Free Trade Treaty, Sole article, 2004-05-17 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. The Mercosur Singapore Free Trade Agreement, signed in Rio de Janeiro on 7 December 2023, was approved by Uruguay by law and entered into force bilaterally between Uruguay and Singapore on 1 March 2026. According to the joint statement on its entry into force, Mercosur will eliminate import tariffs on about 96 percent of products within up to 15 years, with more than 25 percent of tariff lines liberalized immediately; the agreement also covers services, investment, government procurement, intellectual property and e commerce.
Cost to do it: No fee for the preference; the importer must prove Singapore origin under the agreement's rules.
Example: A Singapore origin good worth UYU 4,021,400 on a line liberalized from day one enters at zero tariff; on a line still in its phase out it pays the reduced rate scheduled for that year. / US$100,000 of Singapore origin goods: zero tariff on immediately liberalized lines, staged cuts on the rest.Ley Nº 20.428 approving the Mercosur Singapore Free Trade Agreement, Sole article, 2025-09-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Entered into force for Uruguay on 1 March 2026 (joint statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Comunicado Nº 17/26).

5. The Interim Trade Agreement between Mercosur and its member states and the European Union, signed in Asunción on 17 January 2026, was approved by Uruguay by law and has been applied provisionally since 1 May 2026. From that date Mercosur consolidates zero tariffs for about 75 percent of trade with the EU, rising to 92 percent of the tariff universe within ten years. EU tariff quotas are administered first come, first served because Mercosur has not agreed an internal split; in Uruguay the quota certificates are issued by INAC for beef, poultry and pork and by the Ministry of Economy through the single foreign trade window (VUCE) for the other quotas. The agreement allows self certification of origin. For imports the DNA created agreement codes 1117 (general), 1118 (Mercosur quotas) and 1119 (bilateral quotas), with an origin declaration on the EURO document and, for quota codes, a mandatory quota licence (CUUE or CUBI).
Cost to do it: No fee for the preference; quota goods need an INAC or MEF quota certificate or licence, and the import declaration must use the right agreement code.
Example: An EU origin good worth UYU 4,021,400 on a line Mercosur liberalized from 1 May 2026, with a hypothetical 14 percent external tariff, saves UYU 562,996 of tariff. / US$100,000 of qualifying EU goods on an immediately liberalized line: about US$14,000 of tariff saved at a hypothetical 14 percent rate.Ley Nº 20.462 approving the Mercosur EU Interim Trade Agreement; DNA Comunicado COMEX Nº 12/2026, Sole article; Comunicado 12/2026, 2026-02-27 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: New preferential regime for EU origin goods and EU market access for Uruguayan exports, applied provisionally from 1 May 2026 (Ley Nº 20.462 of 27 February 2026, published 4 March 2026).

Partner	Instrument in Uruguay	Status for Uruguay	Origin proof at import
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay	Treaty of Asunción (Ley Nº 16.196); ACE Nº 18	In force	Mercosur certificate of origin
Mexico	Ley Nº 17.766 (ACE Nº 60)	In force since 15 July 2004	Certificate of origin under the treaty
Singapore	Ley Nº 20.428	In force since 1 March 2026	Origin proof under the agreement
European Union	Ley Nº 20.462 (Interim Trade Agreement)	Provisional application since 1 May 2026	Origin declaration (EURO document); quota licence for codes 1118 and 1119

Main preferential regimes for imports into Uruguay, as verified on 27 October 2026. Sources: Ley Nº 16.196, 17.766, 20.428, 20.462; MRREE and MEF official pages.

Worked example

A Uruguayan distributor imports US$100,000 (UYU 4,021,400) of machinery parts. If the NCM line carried a hypothetical 14 percent common external tariff, goods from a country without an agreement pay UYU 562,996 (US$14,000) of tariff.
If the same parts are of EU origin and the line is in Mercosur's immediate liberalization basket under the Interim Trade Agreement, the importer files the declaration under agreement code 1117 with the exporter's origin declaration and pays no tariff.
The consular fee and VAT are separate charges governed by their own rules (see trade/trade-and-customs-overview), so a zero tariff does not by itself make the import tax free.

Step by step

Classify the goods to the ten digit NCM line and read the tariff in the annex to Decreto Nº 430/021 as amended.
Check whether the supplier's country has an agreement in force for Uruguay and whether the line is liberalized, staged or subject to a quota.
Ask the supplier for the origin proof the agreement requires (certificate or self declaration) before shipment; it cannot be improvised at the border.
For EU quota goods, obtain the quota licence through VUCE (MEF) or INAC before clearance, and make sure the broker uses the correct DNA agreement code.
Keep origin records: the DNA can review origin after release (Customs Code art. 78) and the Treasury has five years to act (art. 223).

Common traps

A preference applies only if the goods meet the origin rules; goods made in a non member and shipped through a partner country do not qualify by transit alone.
Signed is not in force: the Mercosur EFTA agreement was signed in Rio de Janeiro on 16 September 2025, and a signed agreement gives no tariff preference until it enters into force between Uruguay and the exporting country.
EU tariff quotas are first come, first served while Mercosur has no internal allocation, so quota availability can run out during the year.
Declaring an origin the goods do not have is a customs infringement: a misdeclared origin found before release is fined at the duties at stake (Customs Code art. 201 and 202), and distorting origin with intent can be the crime of customs fraud (art. 262).
Do not assume the 3 percent consular fee for Mercosur goods extends to other agreements; Ley Nº 19.535 art. 265 grants it to ACE Nº 18 goods, and other agreements have their own tax rules (for Mexico, the exchange of notes approved by Ley Nº 18.166).

Sources

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