India and MERCOSUR Sign First Additional Protocol to Facilitate Electronic Certificates of Origin

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India and MERCOSUR signed the First Additional Protocol to the India–MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to facilitate acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin, marking an important step towards facilitating paperless trade and modernising customs procedures between India and the MERCOSUR countries.

The India-MERCOSUR PTA was signed on 25 January 2004 and entered into force on 1 June 2009. The Agreement provides preferential tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines by India and 452 tariff lines by the MERCOSUR side.

The First Additional Protocol amends Article 16 of Annex III (Rules of Origin) of the PTA by providing that Certificates of Origin issued in electronic format shall have the same legal validity and identical value as Certificates of Origin issued in paper format. Such electronic Certificates of Origin will be required to be issued and electronically signed in accordance with the respective domestic legislation of the Parties, by duly authorised entities and officials.

The move is expected to facilitate the transition towards digital and paperless trade documentation, reduce transaction costs and processing time associated with the issuance and verification of Certificates of Origin, and improve the efficiency of preferential trade under the existing India-MERCOSUR PTA.

About MERCOSUR:

Mercosur is the Southern Common Market – a South American trade bloc established in 1991. Its members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela  joined in 2012 but its membership was suspended in 2017. In December 2012, the Protocol of Accession of Bolivia to Mercosur was signed. This protocol is pending ratification by the parliaments of Mercosur countries.

Together, Mercosur countries form be the world's 6th largest economy with a total population of 270 million people.


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  2. MERCOSUR
  3. © European Union, 2026

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