From July 21st with the entry into force of CMC Decision No. 33/15 of Mercosur, all merchandise of that origin entering into an Uruguayan free trade zone, in the course of its transport and/or storage, will no longer be considered “Extra-zone”, and may be covered by the tariff benefit granted by the ACE 18 Mercosur agreement.
This decision includes both merchandise originated in Mercosur member countries, as well as those originated in third countries that have the same rules of origin for the entry of all States Parties under trade agreements signed by Mercosur with such countries or groups of countries of which they are part.
In this regard, on September 2nd the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uruguay designated the National Customs Bureau as the entity authorized to issue the Derivative Certificates on Mercosur origin merchandise. Currently, public and private actors are actively working to stipulate the corresponding procedures that meet the requirements for the purposes of this regulation. It is expected that in the short term these processes will be operational for the Mercosur countries.
Decision No. 33/15 establishes that they may only be subject to operations aimed at ensuring their commercialization, conservation, fractionation in lots or volumes or other operations provided that the tariff classification or the originating character of the merchandise is not altered.
The new regulations mean a milestone and a great advantage for users who use free zones as a logistics hub for products from diverse origins.