Address by Ambassador Sarquis José Buainain Sarquis, Secretary for Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs, at Session 2 - Trade and Environmental Sustainability, of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) - June 9, 2022

Dear Minister Di Maio,

• Let me congratulate you for convening this session and again for the successful Italian G20 presidency, in 2021, including the Trade Ministers Declaration of Sorento.
•  Brazil is a strong advocate of sustainable development and of the multilateral trading system.
• Promoting the nexus between these two driving forces of global prosperity is both necessary and beneficial.
• Trade agreements negotiated by Brazil, such as the EU-MERCOSUR, already contain an advanced chapter on trade and sustainable development.
• An active member of the WTO, Brazil is fully engaged with its reform process.
• With that in mind, Brazil has made a proposal at the WTO for annual ministerials at the organization.
• We believe this will help to rebuild trust among members to support WTO’s response to crises and to advance its work in areas such as trade and sustainability.
• On the implementation of environmental objectives through trade agreements, I would like to stress that an agreement on fisheries at the WTO with the highest standards of sustainability is needed and achievable.
• Brazil stands ready to conclude the negotiations during MC12 and to foster WTO’s contributions to the SDGs.
• In this sense, reform of agricultural subsidies at the WTO is key for promoting economic and environmental efficiency.
• Brazil has increased immensely the efficiency of its agricultural sector.
• This allowed us to increase output preserving the environment and promoting global food security through trade.
• On other harmful subsidies, OECD’s support for reforming and phasing-out fossil fuel subsidies should help spurring innovation and the spread of renewables, such as biofuels, including through trade.
• We want to contribute with our longstanding experience in these fields to the evidence-based analytical work at the OECD.
• OECD’s support to discussions at the WTO, is welcome and valuable. The analytical work on carbon pricing can contribute to lay the foundation to the needed discussions on carbon-related measures and trade.
• Certainly, we should be mindful of the compatibility of such measures with trade rules, seeking to promote positive incentives to developing countries, rather than restrictive measures.
• We strongly encourage G20 dialogue and cooperation between OECD and the WTO, among other relevant institutions, to enrich this debate.

 Thank you.