Brasília, 12/9/2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The final joint declarations (one from Mercosur member-countries, another from associate members Chile and Bolivia) following the XXIII Mercosur Council meeting praised the "valuable and significant contribution to regional integration by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso," and extended "a warm welcome to president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva."

The Mercosur document also mentioned Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, saying they were entering a new phase, and that farm produce should be an important topic of talks in all its aspects: market access, export subsidies, domestic support programs and sanitation regulations. (AB)