New Delhi (India), January 26, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazil and the other Mercosur countries signed a preferential fixed tariff agreement on Sunday (25) with the Indian government, in an initiative that, according to the Minister of Foreign Relations, represents the first step towards the formation of a free trade zone with the Asian giant. Beginning in the latter half of the year, the agreement will facilitate trade in over 1.7 thousand items.
The Brazilian and Indian governments also signed various bilateral cooperation agreements that propose joint efforts in space research, tourism, and artistic and cultural exchange, and announced that in the near future other exchange programs will be signed in the areas of agriculture, science and technology, education, health, food security, and agrarian development.
"The labors of this meeting will, most of all, allow us to follow up on one of the priorities of Brazilian foreign policy, namely, the commitment I assumed in my inaugural address to develop a strategic partnership with India," Lula told Brazilian and Indian officials during the signing of the agreements in Hyderabad House, an elegant building in Oriental style in which the office of the Prime Minister, Atal Bijari Vajpayhee, is located.
"Today, with the Base Agreement for Access to Markets, we are inaugurating a new era for South-South cooperation, in the sphere of India-Mercosur negotiations," said Lula, adding that trade proximity between the Southern Cone and India should serve as an example for similar initiatives in the developing world.
"The President has spoken frequently about changing the world's commercial geography. An agreement between the Mercosur and India provides a concrete, graphic illustration of this change," affirmed the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim.
TARIFF AGREEMENT
In the next 120 days the Mercosur and India will negotiate the list of products to be benefitted through the agreement on fixed, lower tariffs. The first meeting of the work groups assigned this task will be held in February, in Buenos Aires, and the second is marked for sometime in March, in New Delhi. The expectation is for negotiations to be concluded by June and the resulting agreement to be implemented gradually, beginning in the second half of this year.
According to Luis Verdi, Argentinian advisor to the Commission of Permanent Mercosur Representatives, some of the negotiations to establish tariff levels will be tough, as in the case of importation of pharmaceutical products and tires produced in India. "They are very competitive in these sectors, and we cannot allow them to destroy our industry," he commented. (DAS)
