São Paulo, 8/22/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Changes in farm subsidy policies have been modest, says former Foreign Minister, Celso Lafer, referring to the negotiations which have occurred since the Doha ministerial meeting. Lafer is now a member of the World Trade Organization Consultive Council and is participating in preparatory meetings for the 5th WTO meeting scheduled for Cancun, Mexico, in September.

Lafer said there was no guarantee that the Cancun negotiations would be successful, but that he hoped the problem of farm subsidies would get more attention. Lafer commented on a document sent to the WTO by Brazil and 16 other countries on the issue. "Farm sector negotiations are of great importance to Brazil and must meet three prerequisites established at the Doha meeting: market access, the problem of export subsidies and the elimination of measures which distort international trade," said Lafer.

The preparatory meeting, attended by representatives of 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries, paused to pay homage to Brazilian diplomat, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special representative in Iraq, who was killed in a terrorist attack this week. (AB)