According to the Brazilian president's spokesman Marcelo Baumbach, Blair stressed in the 20-minute call that the next 48 hours will be decisive for the negotiations and reinforced the offers presented by the United States and the European Union at the meeting held in Potsdam, Germany last week.

Blair also urged Brazil to reduce its maximum tariffs on industrial imports from 35% to 12.73%. Lula da Silva said that he will continue to favour a less drastic cut on the tariffs, from 35 to 16%.

Disagreement with offers from the U.S. and the EU led the representatives of the other two parties, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, to abandon the G4 Summit, aimed at reaching an agreement on the Doha round talks, two days before its deadline.

Baumbach said that Lula insisted, in his conversation with Blair, that the lack of equilibrium between what the round requests and what developed countries actually offered was the main reason for the failure of the talks in Potsdam.

The president took the opportunity to resume his proposal of a meeting relying on the participation of world leaders, so that political decisions were made in favour of the accomplishment of Doha.

President Lula argued that there is nothing left to be discussed regarding the technical aspects, and that, at the current stage of negotiations, only political will to move forward would lead to a final agreement.

"The key is now in the political dialogue and the improvement of offers from wealthier economies," said the spokesman.

Blair's intervention followed claims from United States and the European Union that the trade talks had collapsed because of Brazil's intransigence.

Brazil's Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim was quoted in the business daily Valor Economico stating that U.S. and European negotiators at World Trade Organization talks "agreed in advance to create a comfort zone for each other with reduced cuts in agricultural subsidies and less market access."

At the talks in Potsdam, Brazil and India said the United States failed to offer deep enough cuts in the billions of dollars of subsidies it pays annually to American farmers. The EU and the US said Brazil and India had refused to offer new market opportunities for their manufacturing exports.

"I could never make an agreement that betrays the interests of Brazil's industrial sector, a betrayal of Mercosur and a betrayal of the G-20 countries that trusted us," Amorin said.

Mercopress

The timing of the diplomatic spat is unfortunate for Mr Blair, who has been courting Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in an effort to break the deadlock in international trade talks.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday, June 1st, that its Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, called the British ambassador in Rio, Peter Collecott, into his office on Tuesday to seek an explanation for Mr Blair’s apparent gaffe.

The row began after Mr Blair spoke in Washington about the need to reform the United Nations by expanding permanent membership of the Security Council – which represents the victorious allies after the Second World War – from five to include leading industrial powers and representatives from the developing world.

The British government has long championed the membership of Brazil, even though Argentina has a strong claim as a representative from Latin America.

Mr Blair reiterated Britain’s support for Brazil’s candidature when Mr Da Silva visited Downing Street earlier this year.

But when Mr Blair made his speech, he said: "A security council which has France as a permanent member but not Germany, Britain but not Japan, China but not India, to say nothing of the absence of proper representation from Latin America or Africa, cannot be legitimate in the modern world."

The Brazilians immediately picked up on the sudden absence of their country.

Mr Blair scribbled down the speech, the third in a series of wide-ranging foreign policy speeches, on the flight from London to Washington. According to a British source, he did not seek to change British policy with regard to Brazil but was simply setting out his overall argument about a need for UN reform.

A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: "We remain supportive of Brazil’s candidature, along with Germany, Japan and India, for permanent seats on an enlarged security council. The speech was not intended to set out our policy in detail but was an attempt to inject momentum into the debate. We remain solidly supportive of Brazil’s bid for a permanent seat."

Mr Blair, along with the American President, George Bush, and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been trying to secure the support of five leading developing countries, including Brazil, for a special trade conference to be held around the time of next month’s G8 summit in St Petersburg, Russia.

Mercopress – www.mercopress.com

The call came after a meeting in London between the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

At a news conference, the two said they wanted to unblock the stalled trade talks to help the poorest countries.

The United Kingdom supports the proposal of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a meeting of world leaders in order to disentangle the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations.

Blair believes the leaders meeting will be fundamental to press negotiations forward. He said that the G8 meeting, in Gleneagles, Scotland, showed that world leaders are not only worried with world poverty, but also that they are capable of acting together to eliminate it.

Questioned by a British journalist if the European Union should be left in charge of unblocking negotiations, Blair answered that it is necessary to convince other countries of the need of poor countries to expand world market opportunities.

Blair evaluates that if the entire international community gets involved, political changes may occur not only in Europe, but also in other countries. And he summarized that the success or failure of the Doha Round will be a strong indicator of the countries commitment with multilateral trading.

The Doha Round is the result of the IV WTO Ministerial Conference that occurred in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, which established the parameters for the beginning of new world trade negotiations.

It should have been concluded in 2004, however, until 2005, several subjects were still being discussed to establish new rules in sectors such as agriculture, services, market access, intellectual property, antidumping, dispute settlement, electronic commerce, and public competition, among others.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also offered his "deepest regrets" Thursday to Brazil’s president and to the family of an innocent Brazilian electrician shot and killed by police who suspected him of taking part in terror attacks on the capital’s transport system

"Let me say that we offer our deepest regrets to the family for this very tragic event and I of course assured the President that the proper and investigations and procedures would continue," Blair said.

President Lula da Silva planned to meet several of de Menezes’ cousins before flying home to Brazil later Thursday at the end of a three-day state visit.

Mercopress – www.mercopress.com

British Prime Minister Tony Blair talked about the subject during a press conference after the meeting he had with the Brazilian President, at British government headquarters.

Blair believes the leaders meeting will be fundamental to press negotiations forward. He said that the G8 meeting, in Gleneagles, Scotland, showed that world leaders are not only worried with world poverty, but also that they are capable of acting together to eliminate it.

Questioned by a British journalist if the European Union should be left in charge of unblocking negotiations, Blair answered that it is necessary to convince other countries of the need of poor countries to expand world market opportunities.

Blair evaluates that if the entire international community gets involved, political changes may occur not only in Europe, but also in other countries. And he summarized that the success or failure of the Doha Round will be a strong indicator of the countries commitment with multilateral trading.

The Doha Round is the result of the IV WTO Ministerial Conference that occurred in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, which established the parameters for the beginning of new world trade negotiations.

It should have been concluded in 2004, however, until 2005, several subjects were still being discussed to establish new rules in sectors such as agriculture, services, market access, intellectual property, antidumping, dispute settlement, electronic commerce, and public competition, among others.

Agência Brasil

According to the UK Ambassador in Brazil, Peter Colecott, one of the main issues to be discussed is the current round of negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO), expected to be concluded this year.

Negotiations are not advancing because of the European Union’s resistance to open its agricultural market to developing nations, and to eliminate the subsidies their governments give to local producers. This practice affects negatively products prices in the international market.

"Blair wants an outcome that helps, in special, the less developed nations. In this sense, Lula and Blair have common interests", said the Ambassador.

He affirmed that Blair agrees on having a meeting of leaders to push negotiations forward, as Lula proposed. Details of this meeting should also be discussed in London, along with subjects such as world poverty and climate changes.

"Politically, Lula and Blair are members of the Progressive Governance Movement, which implies similar and complementary values and views," concluded Colecott.

Both governments will sign, during Lula’s trip, cooperation agreements in the areas of education, hunger combating, science and technology, health, sustainable development promotion, climate change, and artistic production.

A committee will be created to stimulate bilateral trading, which currently amounts to US$ 4 billion per year. And during a meeting with executives from large UK enterprises, discussions will be on "perspectives and difficulties, and what should be developed in Brazil to attract more investments," said Colecott.

Agência Brasil

According to Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, the two countries concurred that political will and a mutual effort by rich and poor countries will be required for an agreement to take shape in this area.

"We are ready to talk, but it is just an exploratory conversation, since Brazil isn’t negotiating with the United Kingdom. The negotiation involves the G-20 (the group of 21 developing countries), Europe, and the United States," Amorim remarked.

According to the Brazilian Minister, Blair also expressed interest in a meeting between leaders of the countries that make up the G-8 (the group of developed countries) and the G-20 to unlock the Doha Round discussions, which are dealing with this matter in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Lula also participated in the Progressive Governance Summit, a meeting in Pretoria of seven heads of State, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and South Korea.

Agência Brasil

Lula praised Blair’s stand on behalf of a "rapid and successful conclusion to the Doha Round, for the good of all, but especially the developing countries."

The Brazilian President argued that "only by combatting poverty will we erect the security we all need, and only through trade rid of unfair and injustifiable distortions will we be able to incorporate millions of human beings in the dynamic sphere of the global economy."

Brazil’s Minister of Institutional Relations, Jaques Wagner, participated last week, in Brussels, Belgium, on the debate about the contribution of organized civil society for the restructuring of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He talked about the subject with the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Anne Marie Sigmund.

According to the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, the theme has been one of the concerns of the Brazilian government, in the context of the changes that will need to be introduced in the multilateral organizations involved with the improvement of world governance.

Brazil’s Economic and Social Development Council (CDES) has participated on the Work Group of the International Association of Economic and Social Councils.

After several meetings in June, the Group approved a report where they make several recommendations regarding the role of the organized civil society for the WTO.

ABr

British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, telephoned President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, yesterday, to once again express his regrets for the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was shot on July 22 by London police who thought he was a terrorist.

Blair informed Lula that an independent commission will investigate the death of the Brazilian. He also explained that terrorism has caused enormous problems in England.

According to the Brazilian presidential press office, Lula expressed his comprehension of the situation in England, but pointed out that it was necessary to be careful so that what happened to Jean Charles de Menezes did not happen to other innocent people.

Lula also told Blair that he had personally spoken to the the family of Jean Charles de Menezes and explained that his death had been a crushing blow to them.

ABr