Mercosur Agreement regarding the Mutual Recognition of Digital Signature Certificates (the “Agreement”) came into force on August 12, 2021 after Uruguay deposited the instrument of ratification in July 2021. Argentina was the first Mercosur state party to deposit the instrument of ratification on November 11, 2020.

According to the Agreement, Argentine and Uruguayan individuals may validate their digital signature certificates before counterparts from these countries, as long as said signature has been issued by a Licensed Certifier. Digital certificates issued in third States are excluded from the Agreement, even if they are valid in one of the States Parties. Both countries also undertake to make cooperative efforts to assist each other in different areas such as institutional, infrastructure, technical means, human resources and information, in order to better fulfil the objectives of the Agreement.

The digital signature is defined in the Agreement as " data in electronic form resulting from the application of a mathematical cryptographic process to a digital document of information exclusively controlled by the signer - a unequivocally identified person or entity - and issued by a certification service provider accredited by each of the parties."

The Agreement also sets the conditions that digital signature certificates issued in one State Party must fulfill in order to have the same legal validity in the other State Party:

• it must comply with internationally recognized standards, as established by the authority designated by each country in the Agreement;
• it must include, at least, information that allows to: (i) unequivocally identify the owner and the certification service provider that issued it, indicating its term of validity and the data that permits its unique identification; be verifiable as to its revocation status; (ii) detail the verified information included in the digital certificate; and (iii) contemplate the necessary information for the verification of the signature and identify the certification policy under which it was issued;
• it must be issued by a certification service provider accredited under the corresponding local agency of accreditation and control of public key infrastructures;

On the other hand, certification service providers cannot validate signatures made outside the country in which they obtained their license. As an example of this, a certifier licensed in Uruguay cannot certify a signature made in Argentina.

As a result of the Agreement, Argentine and Uruguayan government agencies, private companies and citizens are now able to validate their respective digital signature before the other counterpart, simplifying transactions between people and organizations from both countries and allowing mutual documents to be completely digital. It should be noted that the Agreement gives the digital signatures the same legal and evidentiary value as that granted to handwritten (wet) signatures, in accordance with the legal system of each State party.

Finally, the Agreement does not establish that the digital signature implies leaving aside other formalities. By virtue of this, if a digitally signed document requires any additional formality (such as, the Hague Apostille), then said formality must be fulfilled.