Paris, 5 February 2026 – The Argentine Textile Industry Federation (FITA), the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT), and the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) continue to monitor the process of internalizing the Mercosur-European Union Partnership Agreement. This agreement is essential for the competitiveness of our industries, on both sides of the Atlantic.
The entities remain confident that, despite the submission of the agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the vision of the agreement’s strategic role for both sides of the Atlantic will prevail.
For the textile industry, the agreement confirms the commitment to economic integration and predictable rules, as well as signalling support for multilateralism in a challenging global scenario.
FITA, ABIT, and EURATEX reaffirm their commitment to actively contribute to this implementation process of the agreement, as well as to undertake other inter-regional and international projection actions that consolidate both blocs as relevant actors in the global economy.
The EU textiles and apparel industry includes ca. 200,000 companies and 1.2 million dedicated workers, generating a turnover of nearly €170 billion.
The Mercosur countries also have a significant textile and clothing industry. In Brazil, this industry has 25,700 companies with 1.3 million employees and a turnover of USD 40.9 billion. In Argentina, the textile and clothing industry comprises 4,000 companies and employs 540,000 workers along the value chain.
The Mercosur-European Union Partnership Agreement offers the textile and apparel industry opportunities related to market access, technological cooperation, investment, strengthening of environmental standards for countries in both economic blocs.
PDF version of the statement.