Glossary of EU–Mercosur tariff terms
The tariff schedules of the EU–Mercosur agreement use a fair amount of jargon. These are the terms you'll meet in the calculator and on this site, in alphabetical order.
Ad valorem duty
A duty charged as a percentage of the customs value of the goods. Wine in bottles into Brazil (NCM 2204.21.00) has a base rate of 27% ad valorem, so a shipment worth EUR 10,000 pays EUR 2,700 before the agreement's cuts.
Agreement year
The schedules count time in agreement years rather than calendar dates. Year 0 runs from 1 May to 31 December 2026. Year 1 is 2027, year 2 is 2028, and so on. Each cut after year 0 takes effect on 1 January.
Applied MFN rate
The duty a country actually charges today on imports from countries without a trade agreement (most-favoured-nation treatment). It can be lower than the base rate in the schedule. The calculator measures savings against this rate.
Article 2.4(7)
The rule that links the cuts to the applied rate. If a country applies a duty lower than the base rate, the preferential rate is calculated from that lower applied rate, with the same relative margin. If the applied rate is higher than the base rate, the base rate stays the starting point (Article 2.4(6)).
Base rate
The starting duty printed for each line in the schedules. All the agreement's cuts are expressed as a share of it. The Mercosur schedule gives a separate base rate for Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Carcass weight equivalent (cwe)
The unit used for the EU's meat quotas. Boneless or processed meat is converted back to the weight of the carcass it came from, using the conversion factors in Annex 2-A, so one tonne of boneless beef counts as more than one tonne of quota.
Combined Nomenclature (CN)
The EU's 8-digit goods classification, built on the 6-digit Harmonized System. The EU schedule of the agreement uses the 2013 edition, so some codes differ from today's CN.
Common external tariff (CET)
The tariff the four Mercosur members agree to apply to imports from outside the bloc. In practice each member keeps national exception lists, so the rate applied in Brazil or Argentina can differ from the CET.
Excluded line (category E)
A line that gets no tariff cut at all. Its normal duty keeps applying. There are 106 excluded lines in the EU schedule and 894 in the Mercosur schedule.
First-come, first-served quota
A quota that's used up in the order customs declarations arrive. The EU publishes the remaining balance of these quotas in TARIC, and the calculator shows it.
HS code
The Harmonized System code that classifies a product. The first 2 digits are the chapter, the first 4 the heading and the first 6 the subheading. The EU (CN) and Mercosur (NCM) add their own digits to reach 8.
In-quota and out-of-quota rate
Inside a tariff-rate quota, goods pay the lower in-quota rate. Imports above the quota volume pay the out-of-quota rate, which for most of the agreement's quotas is the normal base rate.
Licence-managed quota
A quota that's allocated through import licences issued in advance rather than first come, first served. No running balance is published for these. The EU's new beef quotas (BF1 and BF2) work this way.
NCM
The Mercosur Common Nomenclature, the bloc's 8-digit goods classification. The Mercosur schedule of the agreement uses the 2012 edition.
Provisional application
Applying an agreement, or part of it, before every legal step for formal entry into force is complete. The EU–Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 May 2026. See agreement status.
Rules of origin
The conditions a product has to meet to count as made in the EU or in Mercosur, and so qualify for the lower duty. See rules of origin.
Specific duty
A duty charged per unit of quantity rather than as a percentage. Many EU agricultural lines combine both. Frozen boneless beef (CN 0202 30 90), for instance, has a base rate of 12.8% plus EUR 304.10 per 100 kg.
Staging category
The code in each schedule line that says how fast its duty falls. In the agreement's chronogram:
| Category | Path to zero |
|---|---|
| 0 | Duty-free from 1 May 2026 |
| 4 | Five equal cuts, duty-free from 1 January 2030 |
| 7 | Eight equal cuts, duty-free from 1 January 2033 |
| 8 | Nine equal cuts, duty-free from 1 January 2034 |
| 10 | Eleven equal cuts, duty-free from 1 January 2036 |
| 15 | Sixteen cuts, duty-free from 1 January 2041 |
| 15V | Cars into Mercosur: base rate until the end of 2032, then cuts to zero on 1 January 2041 |
| E | Excluded, no cut |
Some lines carry a quota code instead, such as BF1 or BF2 for beef into the EU. They get a preference only inside the quota.
Tariff-rate quota (TRQ)
A yearly volume of a product that can be imported at a lower duty. Fresh beef into the EU (quota BF1) is one: 9,075 tonnes cwe at 7.5% in year 0, rising to 54,450 tonnes from 2031. Read more in how the quotas work.