Bolsonaro sends attachments to Brazil-U.S. agreement to national Congress for approval

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, April 26th, President Jair Bolsonaro sent Congress attachments to the Brazil-U.S. Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (ATEC). Prepared jointly by the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs, the annexes, which constitute a protocol to the ATEC, deal with trade rules and transparency.

According to the Planalto Palace, the protocol includes as annexes, understandings on trade facilitation and customs administration, good regulatory practices, and anti-corruption. The annexes will be incorporated into the ATEC, signed in 2011, and must be passed by both houses of Brazil’s congress.

The goal of the agreement, the Presidential Office said, is to expand trade and strengthen economic relations between Brazil and the United States by promoting an open and predictable environment and reducing non-tariff barriers to trade.

According to the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Relations, the reduction of red tape for bilateral trade and the adoption of international standards for regulatory practices and anti-corruption will provide legal certainty and boost the flow of trade between the two countries.

The annex on trade facilitation aims to reduce bureaucratic obstacles and ensure greater agility, predictability and transparency in relation to standards and export and import procedures, reducing costs related to foreign trade. The annex on good regulatory practices intends to make the business environment in Brazil more transparent, predictable, and open to competition, in line with the Economic Freedom Law.

The anticorruption annex, bilaterally reiterates legislative obligations to which Brazil and the United States are bound, especially the United Nations Convention against Corruption (2003), the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (1996), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (1997).

In addition to the criminal sphere, the annex expands domestic action and international anti-corruption cooperation to the civil and administrative spheres.

“This is a relevant development in the tasks of combating, through the recovery of assets, the central axis of organized crime chains: their financial flows. The text reinforces, therefore, the joint commitment to fight corruption,” reported the Planalto Palace.