As delivered on 26 June 2013
1
Closing Statement by the Discussant Ambassador Seokyoung CHOI
Permanent Representative of Republic of Korea at the 6th Trade Policy Review of Brazil on June 26 2013
Chairman Joakim Reiter, Brazilian Delegation led by H.E. Estivallet de Mesquita, Ladies and gentlemen,
1. I am very happy to note that members have actively engaged in the 6th TPR of Brazil over the past few days. I heard their recognition of the Brazil’s overall development potential and economic performance as well as its achievements during the period under review. At the same time, we also shared members’ questions and concerns about Brazil’s trade and investment policy regimes. In response, the Brazilian delegation provided detailed answers and clarifications on questions raised, and at the same time, showed its commitment to improve some of the areas, including complex tax schemes, customs procedures, import licensing schemes etc., which I greatly appreciate.
2. Considering the size of Brazil’s economy and the multi-faceted nature of its trade policies, this short period would not be sufficient to cover all of the issues on its trade and investment policies. I wish to note some of the points which WTO members raised during this session:
a) First, regarding measures directly affecting imports, members raised questions including on structural problems, complex customs procedures, customs valuation and rules of origin, gaps existing between applied and bound tariffs, complex internal taxation schemes including IPI, and non-automatic import licensing system.
Questions were also raised on the frequent use of trade remedy measures including, in particular the AD. Of course, Brazilian delegation responded in detail to those questions raised last Monday.
b) Second, regarding measures directly affecting exports, questions on complicated export procedures and export taxes and duties were raised. In particular, a number of clarifications were sought on export incentives and export financing, and particularly the domestic content requirement in BNDES-EXIM programmes, and their consistency with the relevant WTO rules. In addition, many questions were put forward on incentives and support programmes including the INOVAR-Auto programme, competition policy, the government procurement regime, and the IPR regime in general.
3. In conclusion, I believe that the two day meeting provided a good opportunity to review Brazil’s trade policy and the interactions between members and the Brazilian delegation have been both informative and productive. Of course, there are remaining points which were not brought up or warrant further discussions. We will continue to look at these issues very closely. In addition to that substantive dialogue, we saw a big welcome for the upcoming Director General of the WTO from Brazil as well as the expectation for Brazil as an emerging power and its continued strong commitment in the multilateral trading system. I would like to thank all of you, and wish Ambassador Mesquita and his delegation a safe trip
As delivered on 26 June 2013
2
back to Brazil. Thank you very much. /End/
