Brasília, September 8, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent a strong message today to the President of the United States, George W. Bush: If negotiations over the agricultural barriers imposed on Brazil do not advance during the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it will not be possible to make progress in negotiations in the other areas up for discussion at the meeting. The Brazilian President received a telephone call from Bush this morning to discuss details of the WTO Conference, which will be held this week in Cancún, Mexico.

President Lula said that the text prepared by the president of the WTO on the agricultural issue "is inadequate" for the negotiations envisioned for the round, but he considers that the debates in Cancún will provide a "valuable" opportunity to prepare for future negotiations. Lula made it clear, however, that Brazil does not wish to await the Doha round for the country's interests in the agricultural area to be met. Together with other developing countries, Brazil prepared a proposal that seeks to uphold the level of its original aspirations. (DAS)