Brazil gives up advantages at the WTO to seek prestige at the OECD

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Brazil will give up the rights it receives for being declared a developing country in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to have the support of the United States in its possible entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), made up of countries with developed economies.


Alan Santos/PR
The decision was released after President Bolsonaro met with US President Donald Trump
Alan Santos/PR
The decision was announced on Tuesday (19/3) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after President Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) met with North American President Donald Trump, in Washington, as part of an agenda that dealt with matters that ranged from their support to the president in charge of Venezuela Juan Guaidó to the creation of a US$100 million fund with the promise of producing "sustainable investment in the Amazon region".

By accepting the United States' proposal, Brazil B2B Lead will have to negotiate on equal terms with rich countries, giving up advantages such as longer deadlines for implementing agreements and commitments or measures to increase commercial opportunities.

This is because developing WTO members do not need to offer reciprocity of liberalization of their internal market in relation to developed ones. That is, when developed countries make trade concessions to developing countries, they should not expect developing countries to make corresponding offers in return.

According to the Organization's provisions, the special treatments that Brazil will give up include provisions that oblige all WTO members to safeguard the commercial interests of developing countries, support to help poor countries develop the capacity to carry out the work of the WTO, WTO, handle disputes and implement technical standards, and provisions relating to the organization.

The counterpart accepted by Brazil is part of a consolidated position of the United States, which is contrary to favoritism in the WTO. The country led by Trump has already been picking a fight with the organization to eliminate these benefits for countries that declare themselves developing.

"In practice, Brazil is really a very strong country economically, but it is still a developing country", comments Eduardo Felipe Matias, PhD in International Law from USP and partner at Nogueira, Elias, Laskowski e Matias Advogados. "By giving up a condition that is natural to him, he loses some benefits that make sense within the current context of Brazil", he adds.



On the other hand, argues Eduardo, the decision may be naturally inevitable. If Brazil were to be accepted as a member of the OECD — despite the USA creating difficulties for Brazil to join, they are just one of the organization's countries — this could generate a positive effect for the country in the eyes of investors, who may be interested. more in Brazil.

As the United States has long questioned the WTO, defending a reform of the organization, it is not possible to know how much Jair Bolsonaro's government pays attention to the pressures that exist on the role of poor nations in trade agreements. "Economically, it may not be so significant and politically it may be an inevitable change in the medium term, both due to pressure on the WTO and due to Brazil's own economic role", says Matias