Mercosur and the EU: what changes for CEASA produce

Mercosur and the European Union signed their partnership agreement on January 17, 2026, in Asunción, Paraguay, after more than 25 years of negotiation. For Brazilian fruit, the change is concrete: table grapes now enter Europe tariff-free, and lemons, limes, melons, watermelons and avocados have their tariffs eliminated over periods of up to seven years. Those who grow and sell fruit at the wholesale supply centers have gained a more open market. What is still missing is the road to it.

What happened

The signing came after the Council of the European Union approved the text on January 9, 2026. The agreement has two instruments: an interim trade agreement, which deals with tariffs, and a broader partnership agreement, with political and cooperation pillars. According to Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Brazil exported US$ 21.8 billion in agricultural products to the European bloc in 2025, or US$ 25.2 billion when pulp, leather and wood are added.

For fruit, the tariff phase-out calendar is what matters to people in the field. According to the summary published by Agência Brasil, fresh table grapes immediately lose their 11% tariff. Avocados, which paid 4%, become tariff-free in four years. Lemons and limes, with a 14% tariff, and melons and watermelons, with 9%, have the duty removed within up to seven years.

With the provisional application of the agreement, starting May 1, 2026, the first tariff-free grape shipments left for Europe. CNN Brasil reported the assessment of Abrafrutas, the association of fruit growers and exporters: Brazil is among the world's largest fruit producers, but still exports little of what it harvests. Lemons were cited as an example, with less than 10% of production going abroad.

Why it matters

Exported fruit and fruit sold at the CEASA often come from the same region, and sometimes from the same orchard. According to Conab, the 54 supply centers tracked by Prohort sold 16.6 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables in 2025, worth R$ 68.7 billion. In the same survey, fruit exports grew 19.7%, to about 1.3 million tonnes, with the European Union among the main destinations.

A zero tariff does not turn into income on its own. To sell to Europe, a grower needs to meet sanitary requirements, trace the lot, speak the language of the contract and get paid safely in foreign currency. Small and mid-sized growers, who today sell at the central market or to a middleman, rarely have that structure. If nothing changes along the way, those who already export capture the gain, and those who sell in the market pavilion stay where they are.

In Bairo's view

For Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez, the agreement confirms an idea he has repeated since he began building CEASA Bank: the grower's problem is not a lack of market, it is a lack of connection. In his reading, a treaty that opens Europe to Brazilian lemons is worth little to the family that grows lemons if they still don't know what the product is worth abroad and have no simple way to close the sale.

Bairo advocates a direct connection between those who produce, those who trade and those who buy, with prices visible before the negotiation. For him, the quote needs to start from public, up-to-date data, such as the CEASA bulletins and Conab surveys, and show the grower the difference between selling in the pavilion and selling abroad. In his view, small growers only take part in foreign trade when the paperwork fits on a phone.

Where this meets the ecosystem

CEASA Bank is an agribusiness financial platform, founded by Bairo, that operates on the infrastructure of an authorized institution. It is not a bank authorized by the Central Bank. The platform's proposal speaks directly to the agreement: a niche artificial intelligence that suggests a reference price using CEASA and Conab data, calculates export freight and turns the sale into an invoice designed to go out in a few minutes.

The design also envisions opening an account in the buyer's country and recording the transaction on BTZ Chain, the ecosystem's record network, so that every sale becomes a verifiable history for the grower. These functions are described as the platform's proposal, under construction, and not as a service available at every supply center.

Sources

• Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, official page of the Mercosur–European Union Agreement (signed on 01/17/2026; agricultural exports to the EU in 2025): gov.br/agricultura
• MRE, MDIC and MAPA, joint note on the signing of the agreement, January 2026: gov.br/mdic
• Agência Brasil, "Entenda como ficam exportações agrícolas após acordo Mercosul-UE" (Understand how agricultural exports stand after the Mercosur-EU agreement), December 2024 (fruit calendar): agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br
• CNN Brasil, "Brasil faz primeiros embarques de uvas com tarifa zero à UE" (Brazil makes first tariff-free grape shipments to the EU), 2026: cnnbrasil.com.br
• Conab/Prohort, sales at the Ceasas in 2025, published on 07/28/2026: gov.br/conab

Read also

• Mercosur–EU agreement: provisional application and what is missing
• The Ceasas moved R$ 68.7 billion in 2025
• CEASA Bank: what it is and why it matters