In an interview broadcast on Radio Oriental Agropecuaria, integration and trade specialist Gonzalo Oleggini warned that Mercosur will reach May 1 —the date the agreement with the European Union enters into force— without having defined the internal allocation of the 99,000-ton beef quota.
Oleggini noted that this is the “most important” quota in the agreement and that, despite being a long-known issue, the bloc has been “reluctant” and failed to agree on a distribution criterion among countries. In this context, governments have set September as the deadline to resolve the allocation, implying several months of uncertainty with the quota already operational.
He was particularly critical of Brazil’s proposal, arguing that it reflects a past scenario that has already changed, with countries such as Paraguay significantly increasing exports and unlikely to accept a low share—around 7%—of the total.
Oleggini stressed that on May 1 the agreement will come fully into force, including quotas and the tariff reduction schedule, regardless of the lack of internal definition within Mercosur. He warned that the absence of agreement not only creates uncertainty for exporters but also sends a negative signal to the European Union, which operates as a more organized trade bloc.
He also highlighted that this delay occurs amid internal tensions within Mercosur, making it even harder to reach a quick solution for a key quota, which includes 55% chilled beef and 45% frozen.
Without a prior agreement, the quota would begin to be used under a “first come, first served” system, meaning all shipments count until the quota is filled. Countries with lower capacity to generate volume, such as Uruguay and Paraguay, risk seeing larger partners quickly exhaust the quota, which for this year will be 13,200 tons carcass weight, roughly 9,000–10,000 tons shipment weight. A positive factor for Uruguay is that Brazil has a limited number of plants approved to export to the European Union.
