BRASILIA -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's lead negotiator in talks for the Free Trade Area of Americas said Thursday that the FTAA's proposed rules for government procurement were restrictive and would limit the country's efforts to support local businesses.
Speaking at a public hearing in Congress, Adhemar Bahadian said the government's recent resistance to expanding FTAA talks was in justifiable defense of local industry.
"Is this anti-Americanism, is it ideological, or are we simply defending our national interests?" he asked.
Bahadian said that if Brazil accepted proposals under consideration in the talks, the country would be forced to make concessions on purchases ranging from equipment for the state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro S/A oil company, or Petrobras, to ingredients for public school-lunch programs.
As part of his election campaign last year, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would require Petrobras to use locally manufactured equipment in the construction of the company's offshore oil platforms.
Also Thursday, Bahadian criticized the U.S stance on intellectual property and investment.
He noted that Brazil was only allowed to manufacture generic AIDS drugs locally after taking up the issue at the World Trade Organization.
Debate surrounding the FTAA heated up in Brazil this week after U.S. negotiator Peter Allgeier said the U.S. was prepared to negotiate the terms of the area with "whomever was interested."
Local authorities interpreted that to mean the U.S. was willing to go ahead with formation of the trade area regardless of Brazil's objections to the terms of an eventual accord.
Aside from government procurement and intellectual property rules, Brazil takes exception to U.S. positions on agriculture subsidies, trade barriers and anti-dumping rules.
Bahadian and Allgeier will represent their countries in the co-presidency of the FTAA talks at an upcoming meeting in Miami.
Despite heated discussions this week, Brazil has reportedly presented U.S. negotiators with a "more flexible proposal" than was offered by Mercosur countries at a recent meeting in Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Brazilian negotiators, the latest proposal attempts to satisfy U.S. interests in intellectual property issues and service industry investments.
-By Gerald Jeffris, Dow Jones Newswires; (5561) 8123-6883, Gerald.Jeffris@dowjones.com
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