Rio, September 10, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB), Benedicto Moreira, assessed the WTO meeting in Cancún, Mexico, as just a step in a negotiating process that will take many years, since it involves the need to reconcile the interests of 33 Latin American countries, among which 32, together, produce only one third of the Gross Domestic Product of just one country.

Besides this, Moreira observed that the United States should not yield in its position of agricultural protectionism, unless Europe sets an example. That is, the Americans are not going to give up their system of trade defense. "It's complicated to negotiate at this moment, when the United States is trying to deal with the security problem. The recent bioterrorism regulations act almost as a non-tariff barrier.

The president of the AEB participated in the South American Cooperation seminar, in Rio de Janeiro. (DAS)