Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sunday that it could take up to three years for the free-trade deal agreed by the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur to come into force, as it depends on approvals by lawmakers of all countries involved.
On Friday, EU and Mercosur concluded two decades of talks, committing to more open markets in the face of a rising tide of protectionism.
In an interview after his arrival from a trip to G20 in Osaka in Japan, Bolsonaro added he expected the Brazilian Congress to be one of the first to approve the EU-Mercosur treaty.
"(The deal) comes into force in one or three years, depending on the parliaments...Maybe ours will be one of the first to approve, I hope," he told journalists when arriving in Brasilia.
'Mission Accomplished'
Bolsonaro called his trip to G20 a "mission accomplished", attributing the success to the fact that his ministers were chosen for technical reasons.
The European Union and South American bloc Mercosur agreed a free trade treaty on Friday, concluding two decades of talks and committing to more open markets in the face of a rising tide of protectionism.
The EU becomes the first major partner with which Mercosur has struck a trade pact, offering EU firms a potential head start.
The European Union is already Mercosur's biggest trade and investment partner and its second largest for goods trade.
