BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, March 4 (Reuters) – Brazilian lawmakers have finalized their approval of a free trade agreement between the South American economic bloc Mercosur and the European Union, following a favorable Senate vote on Wednesday.
The collective approval by the legislatures of Mercosur’s members – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – is a necessary step for the trade agreement to take effect following more than two decades of negotiations.
Brazil’s lower house of Congress signed off last week, and lawmakers in Argentina and Uruguay also approved the deal. In Paraguay, the agreement still has to be voted on in the lower house of Congress.
(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello in Brasilia and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; additional reporting by Daniela Desantis in Asuncion, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)