Trade

The Trade policy agenda aims to enhance relations between Brazil and the United States in the areas of trade, regulation and customs with the objective of reducing barriers to trade, investment and supply chain capacity.

CHAIR:

VICE CHAIR:

Our Trade Task Force proposes a number of actions to prioritize and drive economic growth in Brazil:

1. Brazil’s full insertion into world trade with membership in the following:
   • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
   • WTO Trade Services.
   • WTO Information Technology.
   • WTO Government Procurement Agreements.
2. A U.S. government “scoping exercise” with private sector contribution for a potential U.S.-Brazil trade agreement and the reopening of formal bilateral tax treaty negotiations.
3. Trade facilitation to improve trade flows:
   • Support the full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and programs like the Single Window and the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO).
   • Work toward achieving a U.S.-Brazil mutual recognition agreement of AEO and the U.S. Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT).
   • Promote the economic benefits associated with expediting bank credit card payment settlements.
   • Recommend streamlining Brazil’s bureaucratic procedures, while assuring a stable and predictable legal and regulatory framework for Brazilian and foreign investors, with the enactment of a law to harmonize the rulemaking process.
   • Support Brazil’s accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention to encourage standardization and harmonization of customs procedures.
4. Support a whole-of-government regulatory coherence approach in Brazil to ensure that rules and regulations are crafted in a transparent and collaborative process with the private sector and that the rulemaking process is consistent across the entire government. Encourage approval of legislation on rulemaking with provisions regarding the following:
   • Regulatory impact analysis.
   • Adequate notice on rulemaking.
   • Meaningful public consultations.
   • Reasonable period of time for rule implementation.
5. Requests the Brazilian Federal Revenue to amend Normative Instruction No. 1639/2016, which provides for the temporary admission of goods, to allow ATA carnets from countries that ratified either the Istanbul Convention of 1990 or the ATA Carnet Convention of 1961. The current norm requires that a valid ATA carnet be issued by the contracting country of the Istanbul Convention, a convention for which the U.S. is not a party.
6. Endorse the U.S.-Brazil Consultative Committee on Agriculture (CCA) with private sector participation, aiming at boosting bilateral cooperation along the entire agribusiness activity chain:
   • Agricultural technology.
   • Research and development.
   • Agricultural competitiveness.
   • Financing.
   • Export assistance.
   • Regulatory framework.
7. Encourage bilateral discussions on these topics:
   • Food security.
   • Farmer access to new technology.
   • Biotechnology.
   • U.S.-Brazil cooperation with third countries for market access.
8. Support easing bureaucratic bottlenecks in the seed export process through the review and simplification of MAPA’s (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply) normative instructions:
   • For Normative Instruction No. 50/2006, eliminate the compulsory export authorization in exchange for requiring the private sector to abide by standard agreements and treaties governing international trade, as well as incorporating clear rules for exports in kilograms.
   • For Normative Instruction No. 57/2013, allow seed producers’ laboratories to become accredited.
9. Support the adoption of legislation in Brazil that promotes a science- and risk-based approach to chemical regulation to ensure appropriate health and environmental protections, prevent the imposition of regulatory barriers to trade, reduce costs, and create other efficiencies for governments and industry.

Get involved!

Task force membership is voluntary and exclusive to members, and each group is chaired by one or more members. Contact us if you are interested in getting involved.

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