EU Promises Brazil It Will End Sugar Subsidies in May
Written by Bruno Bocchini
Monday, 31 October 2005
In a note issued on Friday, October 28, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations declares that it considers "reasonable" the deadline set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the European Union (EU) to comply with the decision to eliminate sugar export subsidies.
According to the WTO's determination, the EU has until May 22, 2006, to implement the WTO's recommendations.
The WTO released a report in May, recommending that the EU limit its annual sugar exports to 1.2 million tons and its annual sugar export subsidies to €499.1 million. According to the ministry, this should enlarge the international sugar market, annually, by about 5 million tons.
Considering the current price of sugar, US$ 296.5 per ton, Brazil and the other competitive producer countries would gain access to a potential market worth US$ 1.48 billion, annually.
"The Brazilian government hopes that the European Union will obey the determinations of the Dispute Settlement Body within the period that was established and reiterates that full observance of existing trade rules is essential for the credibility of the negotiations over new multilateral rules in the context of the Doha Round," the note says.
Following the announcement of the decision, the president of the São Paulo Sugar Cane Agroindustry Union (Unica), Eduardo Pereira de Carvalho, affirmed that the EU has already assured Brazilian producers that it will adhere to the decisions and dates imposed by the WTO.
"We have a formal declaration from the European Commission that the WTO decision will be obeyed. And they said this in a clear manner, formally and informally. So, I can only believe that it is true," he remarked.
According to Carvalho, Brazil's annual losses due to European sugar export subsidies amount to nearly US$ 500 million. Agência Brasil
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Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
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