Brazil Brings Biofuels into WTO Talks

Carlos Conzendey, head of the economic department at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said that ethanol should be part of the deal in the World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva being held this week.

However, according to a report in Petroleum World, the Brazilian move is facing opposition from the US.

"For the moment, the United States has said 'no'," Mr Conzendey says in the article.

Brazil, one of the world's leading ethanol producers, has asked the World Trade Organization and its members to classify ethanol as an environmental product rather than an agricultural product, which would give it greater access to export markets.

Thirty leading trade negotiators from the WTO are meeting this week in a bid to thrash out a deal in the protracted Doha agenda trade talks.

"Brazil produces 15 billion litres of ethanol per year, and only 3-5 billion are exported," Conzdendey told Petroleum World.

"The export potential is immense," added another Brazilian diplomat who did not wish to be named.

Earlier this year, Brazil's agriculture ministry forecast that ethanol production was expected to rise by 15 and 19 per cent from 2007, an increase of up to 27,400 million litres.

Of that, ethanol exports are forecast to reach 4.2 billion litres, up from the current 3.4 billion litres a year, Petroleum World says.

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