Paris, 1/29/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that he has noted a dispostion on the part of Europeans to engage in fair trade negotiations. Lula repeated his call for a level playing field in international trade for Brazil and other developing nations.

"It is just not possible, for example within the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), to implant protectionistic measures. If we are going to have free trade, it has to be free trade for everybody. We refute the idea of a double standard," Lula said.

According to French president, Jacques Chirac, European protectionism is "more propaganda than reality." He said European farm subsidies affected developing nations less than US subsidies. He added that the Europeans were willing to negotiate further reductions in trade barriers with developing nations. (AB)