Agência Brasil
Brasília – The Brazilian government disagrees that the meeting for negotiations of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), which took place in Puebla, Mexico, ended at a stalemate between Brazil and the United States. "Those who say that there was a stalemate are lacking information. Of the 10 areas to be negotiated in the "light FTAA" suggested by the Mercosur – the Common Market of the South, a customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay -, we reached agreements in eight, i.e., 80% of the matters have been solved. There are two pending matters, in agriculture and in market access," declared the head of the FTAA division in the Foreign Relations Ministry, counsellor Tovar da Silva Nunes.
According to the representative from the Foreign Relations Ministry, the Brazilian government recognises that the United States have made an effort and have reduced their ambitions in a series of points. He guarantees that Brazil will study negotiations, but this does not mean that the country will stop paying attention to Brazilian interests.
"The United States believes it has already made too many concessions and hoped that Brazil would relax in terms of the agricultural area. They have been pressuring us for an agricultural package that we do not consider ideal for Brazil. The basis for Brazil is agriculture and industry. The service and government purchase sectors are of interest to the American government, and we are competitive in agribusiness," clarified counsellor Tovar da Silva Nunes.
The Brazilian Foreign Relations Ministry has commented on an American representative interview to the American press, published on the official site of the United States Ministry of Foreign Affairs site after the meeting in Puebla.
The interviewee stated the US thought that if the Mercosur intends to limit the reach of the FTAA in areas of interest to their country (services, investment, and government purchases), it should also accept modest concessions with regard to market access and agriculture.
Nunes stated that the press has been showing it is misinformed when publishing that the United States gave Brazil an ultimatum for the opening of more sectors of interest to the US.
According to the counsellor, two questions asked to the US representative were not published, exactly those referring to more ambitious multilateral agreements, even before the conclusion of a common agreement of rights and obligations between the 34 countries negotiating.
The diplomat stated that it has been agreed that only after the next FTAA meeting, forecasted for coming months, will multilateral agreements become possible. This is because it is necessary for common instructions for all countries to be established first. Once this has been done, multilateral agreements may advance in parallel.
To the Foreign Relations Ministry representative, it is natural for the United States to want to restrict access to markets as Brazil does not want to give regarding the opening of matters of interests to the US. He does, however, state that the Brazilian government is going to work to arrive at the next meeting with closed proposals.
The United States defends that all tariffed products should be submitted to negotiations. The Brazilian government understands that some developing countries cannot eliminate tariffs rapidly, but sees the possibility of permitting longer spans for tariff reduction instead of excluding them from the agreement. Brazil demands, though, the assurance that the tariffs will be eliminated gradually and studies the possibility of negotiation specific dates for each country.
With regard to agricultural subsidies, the Brazilian government defends the elimination of all measures that distort trade, but also states the possibility of creating a scheme to compensate for these tariffs or make them more liberal, although these measures do not please the United States very much. It is probable that the discussion will end up in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
What is certain is that the Brazilian government will continue negotiating a balanced package and will continue demanding more in the agricultural sector to guarantee goods circulation, this way, considering a free trade area between the Americas.
