India and MERCOSUR advance trade liberalisation through paperless trade document Exchange of electronic Certificates of Origin could help Indian exporters secure preferential trade benefits in South American markets Development comes amid Indian efforts to improve utilisation of trade pacts and reduce paperwork burden for exporters, especially MSMEs What is the new India-MERCOSUR paperless trade agreement? India and MERCOSUR signed the First Additional Protocol to the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) on 14 September 2026. This new protocol is aimed at promoting the electronic exchange and acceptance of Certificates of Origin.
A Certificate of Origin is a certification document that is crucial to prove the manufacturing origin of a product.
Under a preferential trade pact, the document is checked by import authorities to see whether goods are eligible for tariff concessions. Under the new India-MERCOSUR arrangement, electronically issued and digitally signed Certificates of Origin will have the same legal standing as paper-based Certificates of Origin, following the domestic laws. However, the new protocol does not entail fresh concessions on tariffs. It seeks to make use of existing tariff benefits more streamlined.
Why do electronic Certificates of Origin matter to exporters?
Exporters deal with more than transportation and customs duty when it comes to crossing borders. Regulations, certifications, checks and procedures can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. With the adoption of e-CoOs, the manual process can become relatively simpler, reducing paperwork and verification requirements to ease trading procedures.
Faster verification and quicker access to related documentation could be especially useful for MSMEs and frequent exporters. But the protocol itself does not immediately include new concessions on tariffs. Consequently, the key benefit of this new exchange of Certificates of Origin lies in accessing tariff concessions already available.
India-MERCOSUR tariffs: what can Indian exporters expect?
India- MERCOSUR trade has been under a preferential trade agreement (PTA) pact since 2009. As per the existing India-MERCOSUR PTA, India is offering tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines while MERCOSUR has agreed concessions on 452 tariff lines. The introduction of paperless Certificates of Origin can help businesses gain better access to this existing preferential trade framework.
Which kinds of Indian businesses can benefit?
Exporters already dealing with MERCOSUR markets can benefit from speedier processing.
MSMEs can be among the biggest gainers if simplified procedures lead to cost and time savings. Sectors that may see the most potential for boosting exports include pharmaceuticals and chemicals, engineering goods, machinery and machinery-related equipment, and agriculture products. But how far the measures will have an impact will depend on how soon they are introduced in practice, and how enthusiastically Indian businesses adopt them.
India-MERCOSUR is not the only trade and investment partnership to upgrade procedures through the digital realm. DGFT has introduced an Open API facility through the Trade Connect e-Platform that allows exporters to directly link with the Certificate of Origin system. As companies avail of both domestically provided digital submission options and internationally recognised e-CoOs, a more integrated process can emerge.
India can thus benefit from a much more seamless digital export procedure.
India-MERCOSUR trade crosses $20 billion India’s commercial connection with MERCOSUR has been already on an uptrend in recent years and was at around $20.84 billion in 2025. Brazil is the core partner in India’s trade link with MERCOSUR. The two nations have even charted an ambitious goal of raising their bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2030. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, engineering products and machinery, and agriculture can serve as sectors with potential for larger exports to MERCOSUR economies and, therefore, likely to see added relevance for the new digital document exchange.
Removing all friction in trade processes can thus be expected to play a growing role as India’s trade profile expands in the south American region.
Which Indian exporters could gain?
Clearly, MSMEs stand to benefit the most from easier paperless processes. Firms that regularly ship products to the MERCOSUR region can see benefits from the speedier certification process.
The pharmaceutical, chemical, machinery and engineering sectors can also see benefits if the digital procedures are less cumbersome. The important thing will be whether Indian companies can accommodate all the relevant rules of origin and tariff requirements in practice to optimize these benefits. India also seems to be engaging in wider efforts to digitalise export procedures.
An Open API facility with the Trade Connect e-Platform has been set up by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to allow individual companies to integrate their own management systems with the system for issuing Certificates of Origin.
How this high-tech automation will translate into trade remains to be seen. India also has a separate bilateral agreement with Brazil as well as a broader India- MERCOSUR arrangement. Perhaps the advantage of the first step to more digital and integrated trade procedures is that they do not necessarily touch the existing tariff concessions. Future expansion of trade procedures, on the other hand, will require ongoing cooperation and adaptation from importers and exporters alike.
What next?
These protocols remain at their initial stages of implementation. Once finally implemented, exporters will be awaiting a trinity of changes: faster processing, better verification and overall lower paperwork. If successful, the new digital process can help to ease the existing India-MERCOSUR tariff benefits.
Digitisation can thus stand to make the existing preferential arrangement more accessible to Indian export firms. For India, the larger goal is not merely replacing paper with electronic files. Instead, it is to make trade protocols accessible and convenient to Indian companies as they seek to expand globally.
