Brazil and the United Kingdom signed today, November 17, at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Memorandum of Understanding that concludes negotiations regarding the distribution of the size of import tariff quotas (TRQs) in the European Union (EU) among EU countries. The European bloc and the United Kingdom, as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc (“Brexit”).
After more than four years of negotiations, the agreement will provide for adjustments in relation to the provisionally applied allocation by the EU and the UK since 2021. These adjustments will ensure that “Brexit” will not jeopardize Brazil’s regular trade flows with the EU and the UK, Agricultural and non-agricultural products. The negotiated volumes took into account exports from previous periods by Brazil to European countries.
Brazil had already concluded its negotiations with the European Union on September 14th. After the completion of the procedures for formalizing the agreement within the internal scope of the two partners and within the scope of the World Trade Organization, the result will be incorporated into the lists of the commitments of the European Union and the United Kingdom in the WTO.
The Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply participated in the negotiations, in addition to the active contribution of the private sector. According to WTO rules, the details of the agreement are still preserved. Brazil trusts that the new terms agreed upon will be implemented by the partners as soon as possible, so that Brazilian exporters can take advantage of them at the beginning of the second half of 2023, when the normal “quota years” for most tariff quotas begin.
