U.S.-BRAZIL COMMERCIAL DIALOGUE

Accomplishments
June 6, 2006

 

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Luiz Furlan underscored the strong and close commercial ties that Brazil and the United States enjoy. They reaffirmed the importance of cooperation to the development of commercial relations between them. Emphasizing the significance of expanding the flow of trade and investments, as well as improving overall economic and business relations between the two countries; Secretary Gutierrez and Minister Furlan launched a commercial dialogue which will focus on activities designed to stimulate bilateral trade and investment, within an overall framework focused on developing strategies to improve the competitiveness of each country.

A number of concrete action items came out of the June 6th meeting, namely in the areas of business facilitation, trade and investment promotion, and patent and standards cooperation.

Business Facilitation

•  The USG extended an invitation to a working level commercial dialogue meeting in the United States focused on the theme of "Moving Goods Efficiently: Opportunities and Challenges," a public/private sector event designed to highlight the competitive advantage of moving goods quickly and efficiently across borders. The parties recognized the importance of efficient multimodal transportation and a secure supply chain in an increasingly competitive global economy.

•  The Secretary and the Minister agreed to work together sharing best practices on a number of issues of importance to businesses, including regulatory practices and business registration.


Export and Investment Promotion

•  Recognizing the role that exports play in creating economic opportunity for workers and businesses, the Secretary and the Minister agreed that their agencies would strengthen bilateral cooperation with the intent of promoting mutually beneficial connections between U.S. and Brazilian businesses.

•  The Secretary and the Minister underscored the priority that both governments attach to timely, relevant, and accurate economic and statistical information related to their economies. Improved economic statistics are essential to sound business forecasting and understanding the strength and direction of a nation's economy. With that in mind, the DOC and MDIC have agreed to an exchange of information and experiences on methods used in the collection, classification and distribution of statistical data on international trade in services.

Intellectual Property Protection

•  Recognizing that a strong intellectual property system contributes to a strong global economy, encourages investment in innovation, and fosters entrepreneurial spirit, the Secretary and the Minister agreed to enhanced technical cooperation on patents and trademarks.

Standards

•  The Secretary and the Ministers reaffirmed their joint commitment to promote innovation and growth. To this end, they agreed to enhanced cooperation and information sharing between the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology and MDIC's National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality and other exchanges to strengthen cooperation on standards, conformity assessment and technical regulations, in conjunction with the national standards bodies and interested private sector entities.