Mexico-EU Deal Opens New Opportunities for Small Producers

Mexico’s Modernized Global Agreement with the European Union will eliminate tariffs on most agricultural and fisheries exports, expanding market access for Mexican producers and strengthening trade diversification beyond the United States. The agreement creates growth opportunities for sectors including cocoa, coffee, honey and processed foods, while increasing pressure on producers and authorities to meet European certification, traceability and sustainability standards. Mexican federal and state governments are also advancing value-added processing initiatives to help small producers integrate into higher-value export markets.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the newly signed Modernized Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union must translate into tangible benefits for small producers in the agricultural sector, as the deal opens broader access for Mexican goods to a market of 450 million consumers.

During an assembly with cocoa producers in Comalcalco, Tabasco, President Sheinbaum said the new trade agreement eliminates tariffs on several agricultural products entering the European market, including cocoa, which will directly benefit producers in Tabasco. She emphasized that her administration will focus on ensuring these new trade conditions support small producers and not only large corporations.

Following the signing of the agreement, an estimated 86% of Mexican agricultural and fisheries products will enter the European market tariff-free immediately. The deal also establishes significant quotas and preferential access for strategic products such as bananas from Chiapas, Tabasco and Oaxaca; honey from Yucatan, Chiapas, and Jalisco; sugar and specialty sweeteners including piloncillo from Veracruz, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, and Morelos; asparagus from Sonora, Baja California Sur, and Guanajuato; canned tomatoes from Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, and Michoacán; and lemons from Michoacan, Veracruz, Colima, and Oaxaca.

Additionally, the agreement grants legal protection across the European Union to Mexican geographical indications. Iconic products including Chiapas coffee, Yucatan habanero pepper, Celaya cajeta, Soconusco Ataulfo mango and Papantla vanilla will be protected from imitation under European law. The deal opens major opportunities for market diversification and stronger sales growth for Mexican producers.

Sheinbaum asked Tabasco Governor Javier May Rodríguez, Food for Well-Being Director María Luisa Albores and local producers to prepare within two weeks a proposal to guarantee prices for cocoa producers in Tabasco. She added that the initiative will be called Fair Price for Tabasco Cocoa.

She explained that the goal is to avoid permanent subsidies by promoting value-added processing and commercialization, while also ensuring small producers can export finished products. “We are going to guarantee that this cocoa gains added value and can be sold as chocolate. That means Chocolate for Well-Being,” the president said.

During her visit to Comalcalco, Sheinbaum toured the 2.3-ha site where the Chocolate for Well-Being processing plant announced last November will be built. Construction is expected to begin in September with an investment of MX$110 million (US$6.3 million), and operations are scheduled to start during the first half of 2027. The facility will include an industrial warehouse, storage areas, logistics yard and water treatment plant. The project aims to produce Chocolate for Well-Being while consolidating Tabasco as a leading cocoa and chocolate producer.

Tabasco Governor Javier May Rodríguez said a large share of the state’s cocoa production is exported and requested that the guaranteed pricing scheme be expanded to cover up to 17,000t. He said intermediaries currently pay prices that make production economically unviable. “If we can establish a permanent price of around MX$100/kg throughout the year, it would reactivate the economy of approximately 20,000 families that depend on cocoa,” he said.

Certification Gaps Threaten Market Access 

While the Modernized Global Agreement will create new opportunities, it also presents significant challenges that require intergovernmental cooperation. In this regard, Braulio Fregoso, Vice President of Foreign Trade, National Chamber of the Transformation Industry in Veracruz (CANACINTRA), stressed that local producers still lack the certifications required to export to Europe.

He said the federal government must provide financial support and technical guidance so producers can benefit from the agreement. Fregoso noted that work is moving quickly with the state government, through the Secretariat of Economic and Port Development (SEDECOP), to help regional producers obtain the certifications needed to export coffee, honey and lemons to European countries, as large corporations are currently the primary beneficiaries.

“There is also a need for mechanisms from the federal government, authorities and business organizations to support producers in obtaining certifications, improving packaging and securing all the accreditations required for exports, because we are significantly behind,” he said.

Regarding European Union regulations, Fregoso explained that several requirements must be addressed to qualify for tariff exemptions. In the case of coffee, for example, buyers will reject products that fail to comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation, which guarantees that coffee beans come from land that has not been deforested.  

“We call on the government to invest in incentives so certification costs are not excessively high for small producers and do not become unattainable. This requires teamwork. The EU has already provided the trade facilities, but now Mexico must do its part,” the businessman said.

In this regard, Leonel Cota, Deputy Agriculture Minister, said that following the signing of the new agreement, the ministry is committed to becoming an ally rather than an obstacle in achieving the sector’s goals. “We will work to ensure that barriers that sometimes become complicated, such as bureaucratic procedures, can be streamlined for the benefit of Mexican producers,” he said during the opening of the Mexico-European Union Forum: Opportunities and Agro-Food Diversification, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture (SADER).

Meanwhile, Juan Cortina, president of the National Agricultural Council (CNA), said the agreement will push Mexico’s agricultural sector out of its comfort zone, given that more than 80% of exports currently go to the United States. During his participation at the Mexico-European Union Business Summit, he said agro-food exports to Europe could double or even triple. However, he stressed that the Mexican sector must work on issues that are highly relevant to the European market in order to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“It is very important to understand that this is not only a tariff agreement. We need to work on issues such as traceability, sustainability and sanitary standards, which are areas European buyers pay close attention to, and there will obviously be a learning curve,” he said