Swiss Senate Approves Mercosur Agreement

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The Swiss Senate approved the trade agreement with Mercosur on Monday by 35 votes to seven. It also allocated CHF517 million ($630 million) to Swiss agriculture. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Swiss Senate approves Mercosur agreement This content was published on September 15, 2026 - 09:14 2 minutes Keystone-SDA

Français fr Le Conseil des Etats valide l'accord avec le Mercosur Original Read more: Le Conseil des Etats valide l'accord avec le Mer Español es El Consejo de los Estados aprueba el acuerdo con Mercosur Read more: El Consejo de los Estados aprueba el acuerdo con Mer

The treaty now returns to the House of Representatives, where it had been narrowly rejected.

The CHF517 million budget is spread over the period from 2028 to 2033. It serves as a compromise. The proposal had been rejected by the House of Representatives in June following an outcry from farmers.

The sector had demanded CHF880 million between 2028 and 2035. Its proposal was ultimately rejected. The agreement was then narrowly rejected in the final vote.

The political left played a part in this failure. It voted against the agreement after seeing all its proposals to combat deforestation and forced labour rejected. These same proposals were once again rejected by the Senate on Monday.

No link to the agricultural situation

The agreement concluded last year between EFTA – of which Switzerland is a member – and the South American bloc Mercosur is expected to yield savings of CHF150 million a year in customs duties. Swiss exports will benefit from favourable tariffs.

More More Global trade Beyond tariffs: how Switzerland turned trade talks into climate action with Mercosur

This content was published on Jul 18, 2025 After eight years, EFTA and Mercosur have a deal. But with such agreements facing public scrutiny, negotiators were keen to include protections – including environmental ones.

Read more: Beyond tariffs: how Switzerland turned trade talks into climate action with Mer

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