Foodsmart took advantage of the Mercosur-European Union agreement to export hake duty-free

One day after the provisional implementation of the Interim Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the European Union began, a Uruguayan company put the new conditions for access to the European market to the test. On May 2, Foodsmart shipped a shipment of value-added hake to Lithuania, which entered the market duty-free, compared to the 15% tariff it had previously paid.

The transaction was the result of months of monitoring the agreement and seeking out customers. The experience was presented by Foodsmart’s director, Jimena Tortorella, during the launch of Uruguay XXI’s new Mercosur-European Union Agreement Portal, as a concrete example of the impact that trade preferences can have on an exporting company.

Foodsmart specializes in the international marketing of frozen fish. Europe was already a target market for the company, but Uruguayan hake faced a tariff disadvantage compared to European suppliers.

“From day one, the agreement reduced the tariff from 15% to 0%, which had a significant impact on our competitiveness in accessing the market,” explained Tortorella.

An opportunity the company began preparing for in advance

Foodsmart closely followed the negotiation and implementation process well in advance and sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay XXI, and the Chamber of Commerce for Domestic Products to confirm how the preferential terms would be applied and what documentation would be required.

Armed with this information, the company began contacting potential customers and took advantage of a specialized trade show in Barcelona to highlight the advantages Uruguayan hake would have under the agreement. The strategy led to meetings with more than 60 companies.

At the same time, the company moved forward with the commercial process and prepared the documentation to certify the product’s origin. This work made it possible to finalize the shipment as soon as the tariff preference took effect, allowing the goods to enter Lithuania duty-free, without any issues in the import process.

An Advantage for Competing in Europe

For Foodsmart, the elimination of tariffs opens up new commercial opportunities in Europe and creates better conditions for moving toward products with higher value-added.

This case also demonstrates that effectively accessing a trade preference requires correctly identifying the product, understanding the tariff treatment, complying with rules of origin, and verifying market access requirements. The Mercosur-European Union Agreement Portal compiles this information by product, including tariffs, tariff reduction schedules, quotas, and sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical requirements.

Tortorella particularly highlighted its usefulness for smaller companies. “This portal is of enormous value to SMEs or micro-SMEs that want to take advantage of this agreement,” she noted. She also appreciated that the tool makes the learning curve easier and highlighted the section on opportunities and market intelligence for companies that do not have teams specialized in foreign trade. “I’m going to be a loyal user of the portal from now on,” she said.

The platform is complemented by advice from Uruguay XXI and the acuerdoue@uruguayxxi.gub.uy channel, which is available for inquiries.