WTO Reviews Brazil's Trade Policy

 
As part of its work in the Trade Policy Review Mechanism, the World Trade Organization (WTO) publishes regular reports about all of its members' trade policies. The November 2000 review of Brazil finds positive steps toward economic reforms and trade liberalization, concluding that Brazil has been successful in creating a "more market-driven, decentralized environment through the deregulation of state monopolies and prices, investment liberalization and privatization." A synopsis of the report on the WTO website states that "the resulting improved resource allocation and greater flexibility have helped the economy to deal successfully with external and other shocks, facilitating in particular a rapid recovery from the financial crisis that led to the floating of the real in 1999."

However, the WTO echoed criticisms published earlier in BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest, published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (http://www.ictsd.org/), pointing out that Brazil's foreign trade laws are unduly complicated and differentiate between different trading partners. The WTO suggested that Brazil take steps toward simplifying and streamlining its foreign trade laws and regulations to increase trade liberalization with other countries.
The full text of the WTO trade policy review on Brazil can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp140_e.htm