[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 45 (Monday, November 14, 2005)]
[Pages 1669-1671]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Joint Statement on the Occasion of the Visit by President George W. Bush
to Brazil
November 5-6, 2005
1. Presidents George W. Bush and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
underscored the increasingly strong and close ties that Brazil and the
United States enjoy, based on common values and objectives, including
the promotion of democracy, development, economic growth, trade
liberalization, international security and combating terrorism. They
recognized the link between development, peace, security, human rights
and social justice. They reaffirmed their commitment to further
strengthen the bilateral relationship based on these principles and to
deepen the two nations' ongoing strategic dialogue on democracy,
development, and other key shared priorities.
2. The Presidents underscored the priority that both governments
attach to reforming the United Nations to make it more effective and
attuned to present day realities. They agreed to work together on issues
such as management reform and the creation of a Human Rights Council and
a Peacebuilding Commission. They further committed to coordinate closely
on the issue of Security Council reform, which they agreed was an
important component of reform. They also reaffirmed their commitment to
fighting hunger and poverty, promoting democratic values and fostering
economic development and emphasized the importance of implementing the
Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development and the Millennium
Development Goals.
3. They agreed to work together within the Community of Democracies
to promote improved governance, regional and trans-regional dialogues,
development and poverty alleviation. Brazil and the United States also
agreed to make greater efforts to cooperate in the promotion of equal
opportunity, democratic values and diversity in the workforce, taking
into account the multiethnic and multicultural nature of their
societies.
4. The Presidents also reaffirmed their commitment to working to
ensure a positive outcome at the WTO Ministerial Conference, to be held
in Hong Kong in December 2005 as well as the successful conclusion of
the Doha Round by the end of 2006. In this context, President Lula
welcomed the statement delivered by President Bush in the 2005 UN High
Level Plenary Meeting, reaffirming that the United States is ready to
eliminate all tariffs, subsidies and other barriers to the free flow of
goods and services as other nations do the same.
5. The Presidents noted with satisfaction the growth of bilateral
trade and investment between the U.S and Brazil. They committed
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themselves to encourage the public and private sectors of their
respective countries to increase and diversify the bilateral flows of
goods and services. To this end, they expressed their hope to
substantially increase trade by 2010.
6. Reaffirming the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), they acknowledged that the
protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should
contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the
transfer and dissemination of technology, and to a balance of rights and
obligations, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of
technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic
welfare. The leaders agreed to promote innovation and technological
advancement by providing strong intellectual property protection and
effective enforcement of intellectual property rights. The Presidents
also reaffirmed the Doha Declaration on Trips and Public Health.
7. They agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation to combat the
narcotics trade, trafficking in wildlife, terrorism, and money
laundering, with an emphasis on information sharing between the two
countries' financial intelligence units and the design of mechanisms to
recover assets derived from transnational crimes.
8. As Co-Chairs of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
process, the Presidents noted the importance of continuing efforts to
promote trade liberalization and reaffirmed their commitment to the FTAA
process, based on the Miami framework, and look forward to a hemispheric
meeting for the timely resumption of the negotiations. They also
observed that the efforts towards integration in South America, such as
Mercosur and the South American Community of Nations (CASA), are
important tools for the promotion of prosperity, stability and democracy
in the region. Likewise, they noted that closer ties between South
American countries also contribute to the objective of regional
integration in Latin America and the Americas as a whole.
9. The two Presidents stated their intent to work together to
address specific challenges facing the Americas and other regions.
Presidents Bush and Lula expressed support for working in partnership
with Africans to promote peace, democracy and prosperity across the
continent of Africa.
10. With regard to health, they recognized the need to provide
greater structure to the bilateral dialogue and expressed the desire to
carry out joint activities to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis; to develop strategies for the prevention and control of
non-communicable diseases; and to address the threat of avian influenza.
11. The Presidents expressed their commitment to ensure that
political stability, democracy, and development take firm root in Haiti.
Brazil and the United States closely follow the development of the
electoral process in Haiti and express their confidence that a new
democratically elected President will take office on February 7, 2006.
12. The Presidents noted with satisfaction the activities of the
working groups on economic growth, agriculture and energy established in
June 2003, as well as the Consultative Mechanism on Trade and Investment
established in 2001. The Presidents also committed to intensify existing
dialogues and cooperation in science and technology, education, the
environment, and promotion of trade and investment. They agreed to:
(a) convene the Joint Commission provided for in the 1984
Bilateral Agreement relating to Cooperation in Science and
Technology and reinvigorate medium- and long-term activities
in areas such as earth, atmospheric, and space sciences,
health, biodiversity, and agriculture;
(b) renew the current Memorandum of Understanding, continuing
the ``Partnership in Education;''
(c) elevate current dialogue on the protection of the
environment and sustainable management of natural resources;
and
(d) establish an informal consultative mechanism between the
Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade and the
Department of Commerce.
13. The Presidents reaffirmed their friendship and their commitment
to further strengthening ties between the two nations
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to foster freedom, democracy, security and prosperity.
Note: The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary
on November 6. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
language version of this joint statement. An original was not available
for verification of the content of this joint statement.