Rio, November 21, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, Pratini de Moraes, considered positive the proposal to create an American Parliament, following the European example. The suggestion was made yesterday (20) by president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Pratini, who is participating in the Latin American Business Summit, said that "the more dialogue there is, the better," especially when it comes time to create the Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA).

"We must converse more and more with our partners and with friendly Latin American countries, to see whether we can formulate a negotiating proposal for ALCA that interests us," Pratini affirmed.

The minister also reaffirmed that, in ALCA, "either agriculture is negotiated, or nothing is negotiated." He added that this is also the case with the European Union and the World Trade Organization. (DAS)