ICC Chamber of Commerce : Azevedo visits ICC Brazil and highlights benefits of trade for Brazilian economy

Participants included Jorge Gerdau (Grupo Gerdau), Roberto Setubal (Banco Itau), Pedro Passos (Natura), Cledorvino Belini (Fiat), Giberto Peralta (General Electric), Pedro Mizutani (Raizen), Ricardo Scalamandre (TV Globo), Rodrigo Kede (IBM), Monica Herrero (Stefanini), and Celso Lafer, former Minister of External Relations.

In his opening remarks, Mr Azevedo highlighted the tangible benefits the WTO's landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) will bring companies by simplifying customs procedures and accelerating the movement of goods across borders. Earlier this week, Brazil became the 72th country to ratify the agreement, whose implementation could reduce trade costs by an average of 14.5% and expand Brazilian GDP by US$24 billion.

Among the steps identified by the private sector to boost Brazilian trade were: the opening of trade in services, the participation of Brazil in plurilateral negotiations (such as the Environmental Goods Agreement), and greater support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which are the most hit by trade barriers preventing them to succeed in international markets.

For Brazil to reach its full potential as a global exporter, participants agreed that important domestic obstacles will need to be removed. One example is the adverse impact of accumulative taxes on the competitiveness of Brazilian products.

Another suggestion was to strengthen Brazil's institutional governance for dealing with trade matters, including trade negotiations and trade defense initiatives.

Looking ahead, Mr Azevedo invited Brazilian business leaders to engage in the various fronts of WTO's negotiating agenda and welcomed the input of ICC Brazil.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which hosted the meeting, is a long-time supporter of the WTO, helping to feed the Geneva-based organization with global business priorities. In 2014, ICC and the National Confederation of Industry joined forces to create ICC Brazil, with the aim to increase the voice of Brazilian business on the global stage and to bring ICC's services and tools to the Brazilian market.