Brasília, August 6, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Foreign Minister Celso Amorim participated this Tuesday (5) in an inter-ministerial work meeting on International Trade in Merchandise and Services. The discussion involved themes related to the current state of negotiations following the meeting in Montreal, where Ministers from all over the world met to discuss questions related to the agenda of the next Negotiating Round of the World Trade Organization, scheduled for September in Cancun. At yesterday's meeting, the participants debated the positions that Brazil will defend with regard to the major themes of the Round, such as agricultural subsidies.

Amorim also said that the outlook for the meeting in Cancun is not very favorable, since, at the Uruguay Round, the United States and the European Union presented an agreement that left no room for the interests of developing countries. "If the United States and the European Union present an agreement that is already practically concluded, there is an enormous risk that the Cancun Round will be a failure," he affirmed. (DAS)