US embassy cable - 03BRASILIA3905

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 003905 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC FOR DEMPSEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, BR, WTRO 
SUBJECT: G-20 MEET IN BRASILIA 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (U)  Summary.  The G-20 meeting taking place in Brasilia 
December 11-12 is designed to lend political weight to the 
group prior to the December 15 meeting in Geneva in which 
countries will consider restarting WTO Doha Development 
Agenda (DDA) negotiations after the failed Cancun 
Ministerial.  The group is expected to continue to endorse 
the same changes it identified as necessary in Cancun to the 
Derbez text, but with a moderated tone, emphasizing the need 
for flexibility all around.  End Summary 
 
2.  (U)  Representatives of the G-20, a group of developing 
countries that was formed during the Cancun WTO Ministerial, 
are meeting in Brasilia December 11-12.  Brazil's Foreign 
Ministry (Itamaraty) has confirmed attendance by 
representatives of the following countries:  South Africa, 
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Philippines, 
India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, 
Tanzania, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.  Ecuador is listed as 
sending a "representative" (observer) to the meeting. 
Supposedly 14 ministers will be in attendance, but that has 
not been confirmed.  Also attending are WTO Director General 
Supachai Panitchpakdi and EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. 
Press reports have also asserted that the U.S. was invited. 
 
3.  (SBU)  According to Maria Izabel Vieira, Chief of the 
Agriculture Division in Itamaraty, the G-20 meeting will be 
more political than technical in nature.  She did not 
anticipate presentation of new proposals or ideas, but more a 
reaffirmation of the G-20 commitment to move forward in DDA 
negotiations.  Brazilian press has recently reported on new 
proposals by the G-20 and implied that some would be 
discussed in Brasilia.  Maria Izabel said the ideas being 
discussed are the same as those discussed in Cancun and 
subsequently in Geneva - for instance, the need to change the 
tariff reduction formulas in the Derbez text to "bring more 
balance" between developed and developing country 
commitments, and the group's interest in setting the limit 
for domestic support to 2.5 percent of production value. 
 
4.  (SBU) The G-20 meetings started Thursday evening and were 
to focus on a discussion of overall strategy for the DDA 
negotiations and preparation for Monday's meeting in Geneva. 
In a separate meeting on December 11, the group met with 
Director General Supachai who provided his current assessment 
of the negotiations.  According to press reports today, 
Supachai'a main message was that all countries need to be 
flexible in all areas, or else no advances will be made in 
Geneva.  In responding through the press, Brazilian WTO 
negotiator, Ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney, claimed that the 
G-20 is committed to advancing the negotiations and has been 
indicating that it will be flexible as long as the other main 
actors in the negotiation are as well.  Comment: From the 
G-20 perspective, Supachai's participation has been an 
invaluable boon to conferring credibility on the group as a 
legitimate negotiating force in the DDA.  End Comment. 
 
5.  (SBU)  In essentially the last working session late 
Friday morning, Lamy will meet with the group for about two 
hours.  The meeting with Lamy appears to be designed to 
demonstrate goodwill by the group with one of its main 
antagonists from Cancun.  According to the EU's Commercial 
Attache, Jorge Peydro-Azanar, Lamy had already been planning 
a trip to the Mercosul countries when Brazil's Foreign 
Minister Amorim presented the invitation to the G-20 
gathering.  Peydro-Aznar told us Lamy's interest in attending 
is to explain the EU's perspective on the DDA negotiations, 
as expressed in the November 26 EU Commission Communication 
to the EU Council, and to obtain a better gauge of where the 
group is heading before next week's Geneva meeting. 
 
6.   (SBU)  Peydro-Aznar said that Lamy views the G-20 as 
relevant to only a single issue, and would expect the EU to 
approach negotiation of other issues, for instance the 
Singapore issues, with the member countries individually. 
According to Peydro-Aznar, Brazilian press had incorrectly 
claimed Lamy would be presenting a new proposal in Brasilia; 
the "proposal" is the idea presented in the November 26 
Communique that the EU could approach the Singapore issues on 
a plurilateral basis, removing them from the 
single-undertaking.  After the G-20 meeting, Lamy will 
continue on to Montevideo where he will participate in the 
Mercosul Summit December 16. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Comment:  Whether a single-issue group or not, the 
GOB will work determinedly to keep the G-20 alive.  It is a 
crucial component of President Lula's foreign policy which 
looks to promote Brazilian leadership of developing countries 
to form a counterweight to oft-cited developed-country 
domination.  Regardless of others' perception that the Cancun 
Ministerial was a disaster, President Lula has unreservedly 
heaped praise on Foreign Minister Amorim for his leadership 
of the G-20, and for demonstrating to the international 
community that developing countries must be dealt with as 
equals.  End Comment. 
VIRDEN