Brazil’s accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has completed one more step. The Brazilian government sent the initial memorandum to the international organization, which brings together the most industrialized economies on the planet, which will serve as a basis for assessing the country’s alignment with the group’s commitments.
Sent by letter dated September 30, the memorandum was detailed today (6) at a ceremony at Palácio do Planalto. The delivery of the document was foreseen in the roadmap for Brazil’s accession to the group, approved by the OECD in June.
At 1,170 pages, the memorandum assesses the degree of alignment of candidate country laws, policies and practices with the standards set by the OECD in 32 different sectors. Among the areas analyzed are trade, investment, digital economy, health, education, environment, competition, tourism and nuclear energy.
The level of compliance with each of the 230 OECD standards was analyzed, of which 208 are essential for joining the organization. According to the Brazilian government, the country has adhered to 108 standards and is in the process of joining 45 more.
“The initial memo will serve as a basis for the working group’s future technical discussions with the organization. Brazil seeks to ally itself with the most modern in the world and with developed countries”, said the Chief Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira.
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos França, Brazil has to gain from joining the OECD, a process that takes decades. “The strengthening of relations with the OECD, once it culminates with Brazil joining the organization, will help us to deal with our bottlenecks and our shortcomings, the famous Brazil cost”, he declared.
Also present at the ceremony, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, said that joining the OECD will help Brazil to consolidate itself as one of the main economies on the planet. According to him, the process opens the way for access to important international organizations, such as a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
“Brazil, after the end of the access process, will be the only country at the same time in the OECD, in the G20 [grupo das 20 maiores economias do planeta] and in Brics [grupo que reúne países emergentes]. This paves the way for the country, who knows, to join the United Nations Security Council. [de forma permanente]”, added the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.
Process
In January of this year, Brazil received the invitation letter to start the process of accession to the OECD. In addition to Brazil, the organization invited five countries: Argentina, Peru, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The country presented a membership plan, which was approved by the OECD in June. The schedule provided for the delivery of the memorandum before the end of the year. The work to analyze Brazil’s alignment with OECD standards involved 972 federal government technicians from 26 ministries.
With no set deadline, the OECD accession process will end when, after technical reviews and other discussions are concluded, the body’s Council decides to extend the formal invitation to Brazil to join the organization. According to the government, convergence to OECD standards is part of a broad strategy to strengthen Brazil’s insertion abroad.
