Overview
- The first duty-free honey tranche for the EU–Mercosur deal, about 1,402 tonnes for May–June, was used up within days after the window opened.
- Argentina enabled a digital Declaration of Origin that lets exporters self-certify on the TAD/VUCE portal at no cost without going through industry chambers.
- Minister Federico Sturzenegger said the online process let firms file “with a couple of clicks” and move ahead under a first-in, first-out allocation rule.
- Exporters in Uruguay and Paraguay protested the outcome, and Argentina warned that self-certifiers bear full legal risk with sanctions that include suspensions up to 18 months and possible five-year bans for fraud.
- The quota is set to reopen on July 1 with 1,800 tonnes and expand toward 15,000 tonnes in 2027 and 45,000 by 2031, yet experts say strict EU sanitary and environmental rules could still shut out many small firms.