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With 31%
of Brazil's exports
coming from the agricultural sector in 2004, Nirj Deva strongly
supports Brazil's Doha Round objective of raising farm incomes
throughout the developing world.
As a Member of the European Parliament, Deva has
supported the efforts of EU member states that have sought to reform
the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) system of domestic farming
subsidies and external import tariffs to facilitate Brazil’s easier
access to the EU marketplace.
With
Senator John McCain,
he supports a reworking of the US Farm Bill passed in May 2002 that
will, without reform, increase US federal farming subsidies by 80% (or
$170 Billion) by 2012, harming Brazilian producers by an estimated
$9.6 Billion
in the 2002-2006 periods.
Deva believes that the international community
should be encouraged to follow Brazil’s lead in reducing dependence on
imported gasoline by utilising the agriculture sector to provide
environmentally-friendly renewable energy sources.
In 2005, Nirj Deva hosted a day-long conference in
the European Parliament with more than 150 European businessmen, MEPs,
diplomats and officials from the European institutions where crucial
issues relating to Brazil’s rapidly-growing role in international
commerce were discussed
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