Brazilian Senate approves Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Brazil

The Senate of Brazil approved the Chile Brazil Free Trade Agreement. With this ratification and after the approval of the Upper House in Chile in August 2020, the FTA enters into force. With 211 million inhabitants, Brazil is Chile's main commercial partner in the region, representing 4.2% of our exports to the world and 33% of our shipments to Latin America, totaling $3,074 million US dollars in 2020.

The Undersecretary of International Economic Relations (SUBREI), Rodrigo Yáñez, appreciated this announcement and pointed out that the agreement will be an essential instrument for economic reactivation, especially of small and medium-sized companies.

"This agreement will give a more solid structure in our relationship with Brazil, our main commercial partner in the region. Likewise, it will allow us to modernize standards since it will incorporate new disciplines of the latest generation, such as electronic commerce and services, update the existing ones and allow Chilean SMEs to have equal access to the large Brazilian public procurement market", said the authority.

The FTA complements the ACE 35 signed by Chile with Mercosur countries in the 1990s, and which regulates our trade in goods, incorporates new cutting-edge disciplines such as Telecommunications, Electronic Commerce, Trade in Services, Environment, Labor, Gender, MSMEs, Commercial Economic Cooperation, Technical Barriers to Trade, Public Procurement and Competition Policy, Trade Facilitation, Good Regulatory Practices, Temporary Entry of Business Persons.

With its entry into force, SMEs will be able to access the Brazilian public procurement market on equal terms, which as a whole generates ten times more tenders than the Chilean public procurement market. Likewise, and thanks to the Electronic Commerce Chapter, the operation of national digital products and service providers will be facilitated.

In addition, for the first time in a commercial agreement, a chapter on Regional and Global Value Chains was incorporated, constituting a modern regulatory framework that meets the expectations and standards of current international negotiations.

This also contemplates the elimination of roaming between the two countries, which will positively impact the development of economic activities, such as tourism, digital commerce, and entrepreneurship.