Brazil U.S.- Brazil Commercial Dialogue Statement 2017

15th Edition of the U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue, Brasilia, May 9, 2017

As a result of the meeting of the Plenary Session of the 15th edition of the U.S.-Brazil
Commercial Dialogue (Dialogue), and with the presence of Minister of Industry,
Foreign Trade and Services of Brazil (MDIC) Marcos Pereira; Brazilian Secretary of
Foreign Trade Abrão Árabe Neto, and Acting Under Secretary for International Trade
Kenneth Hyatt, have the pleasure of announcing the progress made since the last
plenary of the Dialogue, held in June 2016, and conveying plans to continue to work
through the Dialogue to grow our bilateral trade and investment.

Refocusing on Strategic Priorities
Last year, we celebrated 10 years of the U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue. During this
period, we worked together to transform the mechanism into a strong and effective
forum for bilateral cooperation between our countries with the goal of growing bilateral
trade and investment. Under the Dialogue, important advances in the areas of customs
and trade facilitation, regulatory coherence, standards development, measurement
science, standards and conformity assessment, innovation, intellectual property,
investment and services have been achieved.

Strategic Priorities
The U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue was established with the
goal of growing mutual trade and investment. As the two ministries have explored
many areas to find fruitful areas of collaboration, our agenda has expanded and
partnerships have developed well beyond MDIC and the U.S. Department of Commerce
(DOC). DOC and MDIC utilized this 15th plenary meeting to reaffirm strategic
priorities for the Dialogue for the next decade. Recognizing that our long term
objective is to grow bilateral trade and investment by removing non-tariff and technical
barriers to trade, and fostering partnerships that lead to increased commercial
opportunities, the Dialogue will continue to focus on cross cutting issues that benefit
multiple industries, while also fostering industry specific collaboration where we can
identify a mutual interest. Strategic priorities will include:

1) Reducing and eliminating non-tariff barriers and technical barriers to trade including
but not limited to the following efforts:

2) Fostering the rapid and secure movement of goods;
The rapid and secure movement of goods is a priority for both countries. DOC
and MDIC will continue to use the Dialogue as a means to bring together the
wide array of stakeholders to identify and overcome obstacles at the border.

3) Promoting regulatory coherence;
MDIC and DOC are committed to working together to promote good regulatory
practices that include clear, consistent approaches to public consultation and
regulatory impact analysis. Coherent regulatory development and
implementation practices lead to good regulatory outcomes and better flow of
trade.

4) Ensuring that standards and conformity assessment promote bilateral trade;

5) Recognizing that the United States and Brazil have different philosophical
approaches to the development of standards, MDIC and DOC agree to continue
to work together to bridge these philosophical differences and reduce the role
standards play as a potential barrier to bilateral trade. In addition, The U.S.
National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) and the Brazilian National
Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) will continue their
activities related to measurement science and standards that support international
commerce and quality of life for our citizens

6) Increasing prompt access to intellectual property protection;
Both countries are committed to fostering innovation and economic prosperity
through the protection of intellectual property. MDIC and DOC will continue
the strong partnership between the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and the
Brazilian National Institute for Industrial Property by building upon work
sharing arrangements, cooperating to increase efficiency and exchanging best
practices to improve the patent and trademark review process.

7) Facilitating increased bilateral investment.
Apex-Brazil and SelectUSA will build on their successful partnership to support
increased bilateral investment and leverage the synergies between investment,
business facilitation, and trade. Looking forward, the two organizations will
continue to support each other’s outreach efforts and share tools and best
practices to promote inward investment.

8) Promoting commercial opportunities.
With the goal of growing bilateral trade and investment, the Dialogue will
continue to identify and develop commercial opportunities, bring together
industries to foster partnerships and build upon the strong U.S.-Brazil
commercial synergies that already exist.

Looking to the Future
The United States and Brazil have a deep, multifaceted relationship. The U.S.-Brazil
Commercial Dialogue is a dynamic mechanism through which the United States and
Brazil will continue to work together to foster increased cooperation and promote
mutual goals to allow U.S. and Brazilian companies to continue to grow, to compete
and to prosper. We are committed to working through the Commercial Dialogue and
other bilateral to increase and improve the flow of goods and services between our
countries with the goal of greater economic prosperity.