Remarks by Minister Ernesto Araújo in the WTO Informal Ministerial Meeting

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, we thank Switzerland for organizing this meeting, and you, President Parmelin, for this initiative.

Brazil supports the reform and strengthening of the WTO based on a common set of goals and objectives. As a general principle, let me stress that the WTO cannot be indifferent to the question of democracy and fundamental freedoms.

The WTO was created as part of a certain reset, a reset that was supposed to revolve around liberal democracy and market economies, a system of economic and political freedom.

Today, the WTO should not be a part of a so-called “Great Reset,” which ignores democracy and weakens freedom.

With that in mind, our goals should include:

First, the WTO should promote and facilitate international trade as an engine for prosperity, development, and human dignity.

Second, the WTO should come back to its original purpose, to promote the members’ participation in the world trade system based on market-oriented policies and practices.

Third, prosperity, through trade, is a goal of the multilateral trading system. It is clear that there are different needs for flexibilities across developing countries and different sectors. They should, however, not be an excuse to avoid commitment to the trading system.

Fourth, the multilateral trading system has to be predictable and requires a functional and fair dispute settlement system.

I would like to highlight the need to address more significantly and systematically excess capacity, unfair competitive conditions, and distortion of international trade relations, including subsidies across all sectors. Those are key issues that we have to deal with if we are serious about the fiscal severity of the current crisis and about the contribution of the multilateral trading system to rationalize the use and allocation of resources toward urgent recovery needs and long-term objectives of social inclusion and sustainable development. In that vein, Brazil would like to invite members to be ambitious with a view to reducing subsidies in all sectors.

The pandemic also showed the need to discuss the issue of trade and public health overall. This would be an effective contribution from the multilateral trading system to a world of economic efficiency and sustainable development framed by freedom and human dignity.

We need to prepare an ambitious and realistic package for MC-12, which must include:

One, clear deliverables in agriculture, particularly in domestic support and SPS. The pandemic highlighted the importance of trade and agricultural goods to ensure the world's food security and to mitigate the impact of a widespread economic crisis, and Brazil's contribution was paramount in that regard. We need to reduce our current agricultural trade-distorting domestic support entitlements. To this goal, we should instruct our delegations to negotiate commitments to cap and reduce trade-distorting domestic support with clear parameters to implement them.

Two, a permanent multilateral solution to the stalemate of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, which would include the appointment of new members of the Appellate Body, as well as the preservation of two levels of adjudication and of negative consensus.

Three, the conclusion of negotiations on investment facilitation and services domestic regulation, as well as an advanced and consolidated negotiating text in electronic commerce.

And four, the conclusion of negotiations on fisheries with a robust outcome for both sustainability and trade. The conclusion of an agreement on fisheries must be one of the top priorities of MC-12. After years of talks, there are still divergences on fundamental issues. Brazil and other members have presented proposals to limit the monetary amount of fisheries subsidies. It is time to explore further that approach, striving for ambitious outcomes.

Brazil believes we should renew our engagements to deliver the highest standards of sustainability in the future agreement on fisheries. In that regard, Brazil has recently circulated a draft ministerial decision on sustainability and fisheries subsidies, which we expect to be discussed and adopted as soon as possible by all members. If we all co-sponsor the proposed draft ministerial decision, we will produce a concrete deliverable for this informal ministerial gathering.

Thank you.