São Paulo, December 9, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The government-elect's spokesman, André Singer, the coordinator of the transition team, Antônio Palocci, and the senator-elect from the Workers Party (PT), Aloizio Mercadante, affirmed, moments before joining the president-elect's delegation on his trip to the United States, that the next administration hopes for a favorable outcome in its contacts with American authorities. On the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Mercadante said that their stance is to await developments, since the initial United States proposal does not please the party.

"They set aside 512 products as sensitive, which can only be negotiated with authorization by the US Congress, and these are precisely the products in our area of interest, including agriculture," he affirmed. According to the senator, the United States increased its subsidies to agriculture, impairing the competitiveness of Brazilian products, even if they are more efficient, and up to now there has been no mechanism to compensate the poorer countries. (DAS)