São Paulo – In parallel to the increase of foreign trade in Brazil, the Brazilian Association of Technical Norms (ABNT, in the Portuguese acronym) has begun signing cooperation agreements with its counterparts in other countries, aiming to facilitate the flow of trade. According to the Foreign Relations director at the organization, Carlos Santos Amorim Jr., agreements have been signed with China, the Czech Republic, Turkey, South Africa, India, Angola, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Citing the case of China, Amorim stated that some of the work consists in exchanging information on the rules applied to different products in each country. Thus, the Brazilian entrepreneur who is willing to export may consult the ABNT regarding the Asian country’s requirements on its products and vice-versa. “We are prepared to provide that information,” he claimed.
The executive added that in the future, the agreement with the Chinese should lead to the creation of a website with the norms on the products involved in bilateral trade, for the direct access of companies in the both countries, including at least translations into English.
The agreements also authorize knowledge transfer. Amorim stated that technical norm organizations in Angola and Mozambique, two Portuguese-speaking countries, may consult the ABNT’s data in order to develop their own rules.
The agreements may also provide for training actions. With Mozambique, the Brazilian organization also collaborates in the area of certification, because it provides this service in Brazil. In other Portuguese-speaking nations, the ABNT also helps structure out similar organizations.
Arabs
In the case of Saudi Arabia, the executive said the agreement was signed in September last year and a meeting should be held soon to begin implementing it.
“The meeting is meant to spot demands and set concrete actions,” said Amorim. It is also an occasion in which to expand mutual knowledge of the commercial idiosyncrasies of each country. “There is always the exchange of information,“ he added.
In Egypt, however, the implementation process for the agreement has been suspended due to the popular protests that led to the resignation of the dictator Hosni Mubarak, early this year. According to Amorim, a meeting was scheduled to take place at the time of the protests, but did not. “We are waiting to learn who we will speak to [in the country],” he said. Egypt is under a provisional government.
The decision to sign an agreement, according to him, may arise out by request of the Foreign Ministry or out of the ABNT’s relations with counterpart organizations in other countries. The association, however, is a private-law organization, however it is non-profit and recognized by the government as the sole organization of the type in Brazil.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
