PROGRAM OF WORK - Brazil-US Business Council

2010–2011 Achievements
The main policy achievements that the Brazil-U.S. Business
Council strongly advocated for include the following:
• Approval by the Brazilian House of
Representatives of the 2007 U.S.-Brazil Tax
Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
• Approval by the Brazilian National Congress of
the 2009 Agreement on Visas implementation bill.
• Signing of the 2010 Memorandum of
Consultations (MOC) on Civil Aviation.
• Establishment of the Brazil Trade Action
Coalition (BRAZTAC).
• Signing of the 2010 U.S.-Brazil temporary
agreement to avoid nearly US$1 billion in
Brazilian trade retaliation against U.S. goods and
intellectual property rights in connection with the
WTO cotton dispute.
• Opening of the U.S. market to pork from the
Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.
• Establishment of an electronic express delivery
processing system (Sistema Remessa) by the
Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB).
• Signing of the 2011 U.S.-Brazil Agreement on
Trade and Economic Cooperation (ATEC).
• Signing of the 2011 U.S.-Brazil Open Skies Air
Transport Agreement (ATA).
• Defeat of four amendments (Kind I, Kind II,
DeLauro, and McCain) that would have dismantled
the 2010 U.S.-Brazil temporary agreement in
connection to the WTO cotton dispute.
• Implementation of the World Custom Organization
(WCO) Istanbul Convention in 2011.
• Approval of ATA Carnet.
• Renewal of the U.S. Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) with the maintenance of Brazil
as beneficiary country.
• Elimination of the $0.54 U.S. per gallon import
tariff on ethanol and the $0.45 per gallon “blenders’
tax credit” subsidy.
(Left to right) Eduardo Eugenio Gouvêa Vieira, president of
the Federation of Industries for the State of Rio de Janeiro
(FIRJAN), Eike Batista, president of EBX Group, Steven
Bipes, then-executive director of the Brazil-U.S. Business
Council, and Sergio Cabral, Governor of the State of Rio de
Janeiro gather at a Brazil Forum event.
Timothy C. McManus, senior vice president and
director of program management of AECOM, discusses
infrastructure and financing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with
BUSBC mission members.
BUSBC hosts a roundtable discussion with then-Senator
Ideli Salvatti, and current Brazilian secretary of institutional
relations (second from right); Laura Lane, then-managing
director and head of international government affairs,
Citigroup; Julio Castro, partner, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP (far
left); and Steven Bipes, then-executive director, BUSBC.
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Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega (center) gathers
with Steven Bipes, then-executive director of the Brazil-
U.S. Business Council (right), and José Roberto Azevedo,
executive director of the Brazilian-American Chamber of
Commerce, at the 2011 Brazil Economic Conference.