Remarks by Minister Ernesto Araújo in the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting - September 22, 2020

Thank you very much, Mr Chairman,

Distinguished Ministers and Heads of Delegation,

I thank the Saudi presidency for organizing this virtual meeting following our previously very fruitful discussions in March and May.

COVID must be the occasion to rethink and examine in earnest the world trading system and to address the problems that became so apparent during the pandemic.

First, please let me talk about how Brazil is faring in that regard. Brazil faced the crisis without any import restrictions and without any restriction on the most fundamental and essential of goods, which is food. Brazil maintained in full production its agricultural sector. Brazilian agribusiness is sustainable and uses only 27 percent of the country’s total territory, has increasing productivity due to world leading technology, and is capable of feeding 1.2 billion people.

Brazil also has the cleanest energy matrix among our 20 countries here represented. In fact, regarding agriculture and food security, Brazil kept its production and logistics necessary to ship it overseas. This is perhaps the greatest contribution that Brazil has made not only to keep trade going during the pandemic but also to feed the world.

I wish to recall this fact to those who slander Brazilian agribusiness or who vilify our government’s approach to the pandemic based on fake news and ideological distortions. We believe that the commitments here expressed to trade should not be only lip service, but be translated into concrete negotiating attitudes. In some quarters, the post-COVID world looks very similar to the pre-COVID world with elements such as the misuse of legitimate environmental concerns for protectionist objectives.

Brazil is doing its part. Brazil has not abandoned the track that we had taken before the pandemic—ambitious trade opening and market-oriented policies aligned with the best international standards. For example, we are working hard to finish and finalize the European Union-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement and want to have it signed as soon as possible. We are also accelerating negotiations with other partners here represented, such as Canada and Singapore.

Brazil also continues its effort to adopt OECD standards in all fields and we are ready to start the accession process to the OECD. We are certain that the incorporation of Brazil to OECD can be an important contribution to the pursuance of the objectives here expressed, of economic recovery based on sound market-oriented policies.

Brazil is also contributing to the necessary reform and strengthening of the World Trade Organization with fresh ideas and perspectives. We cannot change WTO by keeping it the way it is or by sweeping under the carpet the real challenges facing world trade. We want also to revisit and give new life to the original principles of the WTO, especially the commitment to promote a world trade system based on market-oriented policies. Most of the problems facing the multilateral trading system stem from the abandonment of that fundamental principle over the years.

G20 should support the necessary process of renewing the WTO according to its original design. To find allies, we have to address, meaningfully, in the WTO and here in the G20 the problems of resilience and openness of supply chains, excess capacity, stability of agricultural trade and food security, the fight against corruption, the role of state-owned or state-oriented companies. Those are key issues that we have to deal with if we are serious about the goal of emerging from the pandemic with a better trading system in a better world.

Thank you.