The Governments of Brazil and the United States issued a Joint Declaration on Tuesday (30.08.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX) after holding a meeting between their respective delegations, with bilateral trade dialogue as the main focus.
The document highlights the strong, long-standing partnership - since 2006 - between the United States Department of Commerce and the Brazilian Ministry of Economy that allowed Major achievements at the 20th Plenary Session of the Trade Dialogue held last July in Washington DC.
According to the document, key results of this partnership include the following:
"The United States-Brazil Protocol on Trade Rules and Transparency:Technical discussions within the framework of the Trade Dialogue on trade facilitation and good regulatory practices laid the foundation for the successful completion of the Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement (ATEC) Protocol with Annexes on Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) and Trade Facilitation,” the text states.
"Standards and Metrology: One of the first successes of the Trade Dialogue was the development of certified reference materials for biodiesel and bioethanol as a result of the partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the United States and the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology of Brazil (INMETRO). Both institutions have developed a close collaborative relationship that has enabled numerous scientific exchanges, led to the development of sectoral regulatory guidelines for the industry for each market and supports the continuous exchange of information to strengthen the National Quality Infrastructure System in each country. The overall objective of this collaboration is to support the industry by avoiding technical barriers to trade between our countries, including throughout the recent reform of the INMETRO regulatory framework,” he adds.
"Fostering innovation through IP protection: The United States Patent and Trademark Office and Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) have worked together to reduce the time required to obtain patent and trademark protection. Key achievements in this area include the adoption and continued improvement of Patent Prosecution Highway and the accession of Brazil to the Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol),” the text also states.
Regarding the changing needsThe statement said, “The Dialogue continues to evolve and grow to reflect the trade challenges of the 21st century. The Working Group on Trade in the Digital Economy shares and promotes best practices on issues shaping the digital economy. The Working Group is facilitating bilateral exchanges to create conditions that foster predictability without hindering innovation and competition.”
The United States and Brazil reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent, reduce and eliminate unnecessary non-tariff and technical barriers to trade with the aim of increasing both bilateral trade and investment.
Listed below are five of the ten priorities announced for 2022-23 and beyond:
- Supporting Brazil to join the OECD: "Working together to prevent, reduce and eliminate unnecessary technical and non-tariff barriers to trade with the aim of increasing bilateral trade and investment" and "supporting Brazil's efforts to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development."
- Climate actions“The working groups will continue to incorporate climate into their work streams” to discuss “trade in remanufactured goods, green logistics, the nexus between labor and the environment, and promoting trade in clean technologies.”
- Workforce“They will also incorporate the exchange of experiences and best practices related to promoting responsible business conduct with a focus on decent work, along with trade adjustment assistance programs and workforce development for digital workers.”
- Protocol between the United States and Brazil on Trade Rules and Transparency: “It will feature exchanges on topics such as digitalisation of trade procedures, small package processing, the role of advisory committees and multi-stakeholder engagement in consultations, regulatory agendas and addressing the burden of regulation, including on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).”
- Mutual Recognition Agreement for Authorized Economic Operators“We are pleased to see the process moving forward and look forward to the agreement being signed in September 2022.”
It should be noted that the Trade Dialogue sessions between Brazil and the United States were created in 2006 and are the main mechanism for bilateral cooperation between the two countries to encourage the flow of mutual trade and investment while avoiding the reduction and elimination of non-tariff barriers.
Official data indicate that the United States is Brazil's second-largest trading partner, behind China. In 2021, bilateral trade between the two countries was $70.500 billion, with Brazil's exports worth $31.100 billion, a record. (Joint Statement from the 20th Plenary Session of the U.S.-Brazil Trade Dialogue)
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