Brasília, September 17, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Two representatives of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which comprises the world's 21 richest nations, met on Tuesday with experts from the Ministry of Agriculture's secretariat of Agricultural Policy to obtain information on agricultural activity in Brazil. Brazil, together with the United States, Mexico, an African country, and one from Europe, were selected as examples in which to study the effects of business liberalization on countries. The choice of Brazil reflects the country's breadth of agricultural activity, ranging from family farming to agrobusiness and export agriculture.

The OECD mission, which has already visited Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, is currently in Brasília, where contacts are being maintained with government officials and private sector representatives.

According to Edilson Guimarães, director of the department of Agricultural Economics, the project, which will take two years, is beneficial to Brazil and will serve in the future as an instrument of negotiations. "OECD data are highly esteemed and respected all over the world," he recalled. According to the organization, for example, wealthy nations spend US$ 340 billion each year to subsidize their agricultural products, inflicting harm on developing nations. (DAS)