. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/W/48
28 November 2000
(00-5113)
Committee on Agriculture Original:  English
STATEMENT BY BRAZIL
The following statement made at the meeting of the Committee on Agriculture on
14 November 2000 is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Brazil.
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Part I, Item G:  Implementation of Article 10.2 (Export Credits)
On behalf of Mercosur member countries, Brazil is circulating today the text of a proposal on
export credits which we, Mercosur, tabled in the context of the FTAA negotiations.
Mercosur is not tabling a proposal as such;  we are circulating this text as a constructive
contribution to a transparency exercise on the issue of export credits in this Committee.
It is our intention to share with members an example of a plurilateral endeavour to develop
internationally agreed disciplines on agricultural export credits.
This text, which was developed to fit a regional context, most likely would need to be
reviewed and adjusted to better reflect the type of multilateral approach needed in the WTO.
Nevertheless, I would like to point out a few very positive elements contained in the
Mercosur text we believe to be illustrative for any discussion we may hold on this matter in the WTO.
First and foremost, one should notice that the text is not product-specific , in other words it
was not tailored to suit the specific needs of countries or regions; the disciplines are horizontal in
nature and essentially non-discriminatory.
- I should also underline the effort made to achieve a more thorough definition of
what export credits for agricultural products are.
- The paper also tries to identify the scope and nature of what would be " officially
supported export credits ".
- Nevertheless, in light of recent developments in the WTO dispute settlement
mechanism, we believe that the language of the paper deserves further careful
consideration in order to make sure that we are covering all aspects of
governmental participation in the area of export credits.
- We are convinced that the use of governmental resources must be carefully monitored
and regulated under any circumstances, be it under concessional or favorable terms,
be it under the so-called and alleged "market terms".G/AG/W/48
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Secondly, the overall terms and conditions  set out therein are generally compatible with
international market practices for agricultural products; this is a very important trait of the document,
since it is not biased in favor of economies with surplus resources.
A third and relevant aspect that deserves attention is the fact that it provides for no
derogation, neither under special market circumstances nor for matching practices , a highly
questionable practice very common in OECD for industrial products .
Fourth:  despite the fact that the document was designed to fit a regional free trade area, it is
very important to notice that its horizontal character would make it suitable for any open-ended
framework.
- Brazil and Mercosur would very much like to invite comments and questions on this
paper.
- We hope that a discussion (either today or at our next meeting) of the elements
contained in the paper may provide us - in the WTO - with guidance about the main
parameter that would need to be contained in multilateral disciplines for export
credits covering agricultural products.
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