Rio, 10/22/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, says that Free Trade Area of the Americas talks, scheduled for November 14 in Miami, could stall if the United States continues to refuse to discuss agricultural issues. Rodrigues says Brazil should remain firm in its demand to have those issues on the table during FTAA negotiations in order to ensure that Brazil can compete on equal terms.

"Agriculture is fundamental, but the US does not want to discuss its price support policies within the FTAA framework, insisting on dealing with the matter at the World Trade Organization. So Brazil may insist on removing issues important to the US from FTAA talks. Those items are intellectual property, government procurement and investments. As a result, that means the FTAA may be severely reduced in size, becoming much smaller than we would like it to be," said Rodrigues. (AB)