Brazil published, in an extraordinary edition of the Diário Oficial da União on 23 September, the presidential decree that internalises the Mercosur-EFTA Free-Trade Agreement. As a consequence, the accord will take effect for Brazil and Iceland on 1 October and for Brazil and Norway on 1 November, while Switzerland and Liechtenstein will follow once their domestic ratifications conclude. The Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC) simultaneously launched an interactive data panel and a trio of explanatory manuals to help companies navigate tariff schedules, rules-of-origin and services commitments. Although headlines focus on goods trade, the deal contains a dedicated Services & Investment chapter that grants business travellers, intra-corporate transferees and contractual service suppliers streamlined entry procedures and guaranteed national treatment in most professional categories. Legal experts note that, for the first time in a Brazilian FTA, the text incorporates a stand-still clause on work-permit processing times—12 working days for short-term assignments—backed by an expedited dispute-settlement fast track. For multinational employers this represents a practical win: executives deployed from Zurich to São Paulo, or engineers sent from Belo Horizonte to Reykjavik, should soon benefit from simplified visa letters and fewer documentary legalisations. Human-resources teams should revisit assignment costings, since the agreement freezes consular fees at current levels and mandates digital submission of supporting documents within two years. The pact also obliges Brazil’s National Immigration Council to publish quarterly metrics on application backlogs—data rarely disclosed in the past. Immigration advisers expect the first statistical bulletin in January 2027; if delays exceed agreed benchmarks, affected companies may trigger government-to-government consultations. Longer term, observers believe the high-standard mobility chapter will serve as a template for Brazil’s ongoing Mercosur negotiations with Canada and Singapore. Companies planning regional talent rotations should therefore align internal policies with the new twelve-day processing norm and monitor forthcoming regulatory circulars from the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Source: Agência Gov (MDIC release)
