In a victory for Brazilian diplomacy, the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union maintained the use of government purchases (purchases by the State) as an instrument to help national industry. Brazil managed to exclude from the final text of the agreement, signed this Friday (6), purchases made by the Unified Health System (SUS).
With this exclusion, the Brazilian government will not be able to purchase goods intended for the SUS from other countries. For other government purchases, the chapter referring to the item allows foreign companies to participate in tenders in Brazil, but with a margin of preference for national products and services and with policies to encourage micro and small companies and family farming.
The final format of the agreement maintained the recognition of government purchases as an “instrument for economic and industrial development”. Throughout the year, Brazil asked for the previous text to be revised, which delayed the negotiations, but ended with a victory for Brazilian diplomacy.
In the same chapter on government purchases, the agreement maintained the possibility for the government to place technological orders as a policy to encourage innovation. The text eliminated temporal restrictions (term restrictions) on technological and commercial offsets – acquisition of products that are linked to commercial, industrial or technological development and compensation contracts.
