Brasília - Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, in congressional testimony, declared that the Geneva meeting revolutionized the World Trade Organization and strengthened the position of Brazil and other members of the G-20.

"The G-20 played a fundamental role in reaching the agreement. And that was a revolution at the WTO. We have introduced a certain degree of multi-polarity there, with Brazil playing a key role," said the minister.

Amorim added that Brazil will continue to fight for its legitimate rights and real interests. "We are not involved in international negotiations for crumbs," he said. "And that holds for FTAA, the WTO and the European Union."

Amorim said that the Geneva meeting had made the G-20 a legitimate negotiating force and created a new WTO geometry. "Now we have a triangle: the United States, the European Union and the G-20," he declared. And we have recently been able to win a few victories, said the minister, pointing to the ruling on developed nation farm subsidies, which Amorim called a great victory for developing nations. "That ruling means the elimination of some US$10 billion in subsidies and export credits," said he minister.

With regard to market access, Amorim admitted that not much progress had been made. But he insisted that the situation today is better than it was in the past. He cited the use of the so-called principle of progressivity which divided tariffs into bands and then made bigger reductions of higher tariffs. "The decision to use the progressivity principle has been an obvious improvement over the Cancun and Uruguay rounds," he declared. In closing, Amorim said that there was no deadline for the complete elimination of subsidies and export credits.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Mauricio Cardoso
Translator: Allen Bennett
08/13/2004