Peru ratifies CEPA trade agreement with Indonesia, 56% of exports to go duty-free

Peru has ratified the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) it signed with Indonesia in 2025 and is now waiting for the Southeast Asian country to complete its own ratification before the treaty can enter into force. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) announced the step in a statement on Wednesday, Forbes Peru reported; El Peruano described the move as a further step to strengthen Peru's commercial presence in Southeast Asia.

The agreement was signed on 11 August 2025 in Jakarta. Once in force, it will give Peruvian exporters preferential access to a market of around 280 million consumers in the world's fourth most populous country, according to Trade and Tourism Minister Rogers Valencia.

“With the ratification of the CEPA between Peru and Indonesia, we are advancing towards the entry into force of an agreement that opens new opportunities for our products and strengthens our commercial integration with Southeast Asia. It is a market of great size and with significant potential for our exportable supply,” Valencia said.

56% duty-free at entry into force, another 30% phased

From the moment the agreement takes effect, 56% of Peru's exportable supply to Indonesia will be free of tariffs, Forbes Peru reported. The immediately liberalised list includes cocoa, blueberries, avocados, coffee, mangoes, zinc and fishmeal — a mix of agricultural, mining and fisheries goods that spans most of the country's export profile.

A further 30% of the export basket will see tariffs cut progressively over periods of 5, 7 and 10 years. That tranche covers products the ministry identifies as having high export potential: grapes, quinoa, asparagus and mandarins. The staggered schedule means suppliers of those goods gain competitiveness gradually rather than on the first day of implementation.

Agri-export sector is the main beneficiary

Under the agreement, 90% of agricultural products will have duty-free access, coverage that takes in almost the entirety of Peru's current agricultural exports to Indonesia, according to Forbes Peru.

Valencia said the deal “represents an especially important opportunity for the agri-export sector”, adding that duty-free access “will allow us to improve the competitiveness of our products and generate new opportunities for Peruvian companies, especially those seeking to diversify their markets”.

Current flows: $117 million out, $523 million in

Peruvian exports to Indonesia reached $117 million in 2025, of which 97.4% were non-traditional products, according to ministry data cited by Forbes Peru. Peru21 reported the same $117 million figure, also attributing it to Mincetur.

The leading Peruvian shipments to Indonesia were:

• cocoa beans
• levelling machinery
• anthracite
• calcium phosphates
• fresh grapes
• natural colorants

The ministry presents that mix as evidence of the diversification potential of Peruvian supply in the Indonesian market.

Trade currently runs heavily in Indonesia's favour. Peruvian imports from Indonesia totalled $523 million in 2025, more than four times the value moving in the opposite direction. The main goods purchased were passenger vehicles, printing machinery, paper and paperboard, palm oil and its derivatives, and refrigerators and freezers.

Entry into force still pending

The treaty cannot apply until Indonesia completes its own ratification. Peru's decision, announced this week, clears the domestic hurdle on the South American side but sets no date for implementation, and no timetable for the Indonesian process was given in the ministry statement.

For exporters, the practical weight of the deal sits in the agricultural chapter. The 90% duty-free coverage applies to categories where Peru already has established production and export logistics — cocoa, fruit and fishmeal — rather than to lines it would have to build from scratch. Indonesia, for its part, keeps a strong position in the relationship through vehicles, machinery, paper and palm oil, the product lines that dominate the flow in the opposite direction.