The Senate unanimously approved the historic free trade agreement between Mercosur and EFTA

In the historic session this Thursday August 27, the Senate of the Nation gave a strong show of support for the deregulation and international insertion agenda promoted by the government of Javier Milei. In a unanimous and unappealable vote that resulted in 65 votes in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions, the Upper House ratified a package of five major international agreements.

The crown jewel of this parliamentary day was the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) States and Mercosur, originally signed in Rio de Janeiro on September 16, 2025. This strategic treaty directly connects our regional bloc with financial powers such as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Senator Belén Monte de Oca described this treaty as “a strategic instrument for Argentina” because it opens the doors to an exclusive market of 15 million consumers with extraordinary purchasing power, boasting an average per capita income of $97,000. In the same vein, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno celebrated the measure, noting that it grants access to a market of 15 million inhabitants and that these are “high purchasing power consumers who demand differentiated high-quality products, positioning our goods in premium consumption channels”.

Furthermore, Quirno projected the global impact of the government's opening agenda: by adding the MERCOSUR–EFTA and MERCOSUR–European Union agreements, 31 European countries and a universe of over 465 million consumers are commercially integrated, guaranteeing “more markets for Argentine products”.

For the regional economies, traditionally sidelined by the tariff barriers of the old model, the benefit will be immediate: the agreement liberalizes without delay 97% of Mercosur's exports to the EFTA.

This will allow for the direct placement of high-value products such as lemons, oranges, vegetable oils, fish, and wine products.

Far from the unfounded fears of corporatist sectors, the national industry will have the necessary protection, as the negotiations were structured on a “basis of asymmetric and gradual opening”, granting Mercosur a 15-year adaptation period for our most sensitive sectors.

Following the logic of public spending rationalization and state modernization championed by the government of Javier Milei, the approved package addresses other critical areas that have suffered decades of legislative obsolescence:

Mercosur Services Trade: The amendment to the Montevideo Protocol on Mercosur services trade, signed in Rio de Janeiro on December 7, 2023, was approved. Senator Monte de Oca highlighted that Argentina is a “dynamic exporter of services, with an extraordinary emphasis on knowledge-based services”. This amendment, resulting from the eighth round of negotiations, replaces an obsolete protocol from 1997 —which anticipated a liberalization by 2015 that never materialized— finally providing “predictability and stability to economic operators”.

Modernization of Criminal Justice (Medellín Treaty): Celebrated on July 25, 2019, this agreement regulates the Electronic Transmission of Requests for International Legal Cooperation between Central Authorities. Defined by the ruling party as a “very current, modern” treaty, its central purpose is the “modernization and streamlining of justice” through an encrypted platform with a very high security system. Monte de Oca emphasized that this resolves an “unacceptable bureaucratic incongruity” for current times: “we receive some requests with digital signatures, and we have to print the order, put it in an envelope, send it in a diplomatic pouch… This procedure will streamline processes and will be one less expense in these procedures”.

Legal Security and Extradition with Chile: The extradition treaty signed with the Republic of Chile on December 5, 2023 in Santiago de Chile was ratified. Given a very extensive shared border, the previous regime dated back to 1933, necessitating more dynamic channels and the incorporation of Interpol circulars. The ruling party senator assured that this modernization maintains constitutional guarantees, as the principle of double incrimination and the requirement that the requesting State recognizes “life and punishment in dignified conditions” are respected.

Humanitarian Cooperation with Ukraine: Finally, the treaty signed on August 6, 2018 with the Republic of Ukraine regarding the transfer of sentenced persons was approved. Labeled by the ruling bloc as a “fundamental” step in humanitarian matters, it will allow nationals convicted abroad to serve their sentences in their family environment, ensuring greater “success in the rehabilitation of the prisoner”. The procedure requires that the transfer be “voluntary”, that the sentence must always be final, that the crime exists in both nations, and that at least just over a year of the sentence remains to be served.