BRAZIL'S CANDIDATE FOR WTO DG LOBBIES SOUTH AFRICA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000259

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS USTR FOR ALLGEIER, DWOSKIN, COLEMAN
GENEVA FOR USTR
DEPT FOR EB/OT CRAFT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD SF
SUBJECT: BRAZIL'S CANDIDATE FOR WTO DG LOBBIES SOUTH AFRICA



1. Summary. Ambassador Luis Felipe de Seixas Correa,
Brazil's candidate to be the next DG of the WTO, discussed
the ongoing negotiations of the Doha Development Agenda on
January 11. He said that development should remain at the
core of the Doha negotiations and that agriculture was the
most important issue from the development perspective. He
underlined the importance of the WTO in terms of fair trade
and dispute settlement. He lauded the formation of the G20
in the lead-up to Cancun and its success in coordinating the
positions of developing countries. He said the G20 had a
tremendous stake in the system and assuring the negotiations
succeeded. He underscored that the WTO was and should remain
a member-driven organization and that decision-making was
based on consensus. He saw the role of the DG as doing what
the members ask and trying to foster consensus. South
Africa's trade minister had a good meeting with Ambassador
Correa, but South Africa has yet to take a formal position on
any of the candidates for the WTO DG position. End Summary.


2. Brazil's candidate to be the next Director General of the
World Trade Organization, Ambassador Luiz Felipe de Seixas
Correa, spoke on January 11 at the South African Institute
for International Affairs (SAIIA) in Johannesburg. He is
currently Brazil's Permanent Representative at the World
Trade Organization (WTO). Xavier Carim, the Chief Director
for Multilateral Negotiations in the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI),provided a warm and positive introduction.
He said Ambassador Correa had had a good meeting earlier with
DTI Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa. Carim underlined, however,
that South Africa had yet to take a formal a position on any
of the candidates for the DG position currently held by Dr.
Supachai Panitchpakdi. Carim noted the alignment of Brazil
and South Africa on many issues: the Doha Development
agenda, the G20, agricultural negotiations, and IBSA (India,
Brazil, South Africa) cooperation. He also hailed the just
concluded preferential trade agreement between the Southern
African Customs Union (SACU-South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia, and Swaziland) and Mercosur. (South Africa's Head
of Delegation at the WTO, Faizel Ismael, had been scheduled
to introduce the Ambassador, but was not able to attend
because he was held up in a meeting with Minister Mpahlwa.)


3. Ambassador Correa spoke briefly about the strong
relationship between South Africa and Brazil and its long
roots. He focused mostly on the WTO, however, which he
called a central and pivotal organization in the
international system. He underlined the importance of the
WTO in terms of fair trade and dispute settlement. He also
discussed the road from the disaster of Seattle to the launch
of the Doha Development Agenda; the missed deadlines and
fiasco of Cancun; and the success of last July's Geneva
meeting in reaching a framework for modalities for the
negotiations. He noted the importance of the WTO choosing
its next DG so as to avoid adding another crisis as
negotiations move forward with the target for the December
Ministerial in Hong Kong. Agriculture was the biggest
challenge remaining, and one reason it was so difficult was
because we were breaking new ground, but he did not minimize
the difficulties in other areas. It was important that the
Doha round be concluded successfully and timely. The future
of the WTO was important for all trade, North-North,
South-South, and North-South. Another big challenge was to
give the developing countries a sense of ownership. There
were also issues of fairness and capacity.


4. Ambassador Correa underlined that development should
remain at the core of the Doha negotiations and that
agriculture was the most important issue from the development
perspective. He lauded the formation of the G20 in the
lead-up to Cancun and its success in coordinating the
positions of developing countries. He said the G20 had a
tremendous stake in the system and assuring that the
negotiations succeeded. The G20 had 60% of the world's
population. Ambassador Correa said that it was Brazil that
was putting forward his candidacy and that Brazil believed it
would be appropriate to have someone from a developing
country at the helm of the WTO.


5. Ambassador Correa emphasized that the WTO was and should
remain a member-driven organization, as should
decision-making based on consensus. He saw the role of the
DG as doing what the members ask and trying to foster
consensus.


6. Following his presentation, Ambassador Correa responded
to questions from the audience (NGOs, unions, private
companies, academics, SA government officials, diplomats)
with the following points.

-- He did not see a conflict of interest between Brazil's
role in the G20 and having a Brazilian as the DG.

-- He was not alarmed by the proliferation of regional trade
agreements and said they could be a boost to the system. "We
cannot put the genie back in the bottle." This feature was
here to stay.

-- The multilateral trade rules need to be broader, fairer
and enforceable.

-- He saw a firm commitment from both the United States and
the EU to achieve results and to conclude the round.

-- He disagreed with a person who said dispute settlement
favors the developed countries. He noted Brazil frequently
used the system. "We've won some, lost some." While
dispute settlement was not part of Doha's single undertaking,
he said that dispute settlement "can be improved, and has to
be improved." It was important that decisions be fair and
based on legal principles.

-- He thought there was time to conclude the negotiations by
December in Hong Kong, noting that the negotiations were not
stalled and would not stop. It was important for the WTO's
credibility to conclude the negotiations in a timely manner.
The negotiations in Geneva were moving at a very fast pace
and the chair was very energetic. There would be a
two-and-a-half hour Mini-Ministerial meeting in Davos at the
end of the month hosted by the Swiss government and a
full-fledged Mini-Ministerial in May with OECD Ministers.
There was also talk of another Mini-Ministerial between
January and May that possibly could take place in Africa. A
G20 Ministerial would take place February 19-20. In general,
the hope was to have by the time of a Ministerial meeting in
July a clear picture of what can be achieved by Hong Kong.

-- Regarding a question about the role of the WTO in the
future, he did not see it returning to a GATT-like
organization that existed before the Uruguay Round, nor did
he see the WTO as evolving into a UN-style development
agency. There were various shades of possibilities in
between these extremes but he did not have a particular
position. "You learn as you go." He reiterated, however,
his position that the WTO remain member-driven and operate on
the basis of consensus. The DG does not operate like the CEO
of an organization. The most important thing was to
negotiate and conclude this round, and particularly to bring
agriculture under multilateral rules. He acknowledged that a
number of issues may come up in the future, and he could see,
for example, changing the way the ministerial meetings are
organized.
MILOVANOVIC