US makes support for Brazil’s admission to OECD official

The US decided Thursday (May 23) to formally back Brazil’s admission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The official announcement was made during an OECD meeting in Paris. On Twitter, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro described the move as “the fruit of confidence in the new Brazil.”

“As it stands today, all 35 OECD members support our entrance, the fruit of confidence in the new Brazil we’re building, more free, open, and just,” Bolsonaro wrote.

In Paris, Brazil chancellor Ernesto Araújo said that the US initiative is “the main piece we lacked to make it possible for us to start the admission process with the OECD as soon as possible.”

Support from the US, Araújo said, “is of the utmost importance in our path towards becoming full members of the OECD. We had been counting on it since President Bolsonaro’s visit to the US. President Trump had pledged his support in a very clear manner.”

Brazil takes the lead

In addition to Brazil, countries seeking to join the OECD include Argentina, Romania, Croatia, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Of these, Brazil has adopted around 30 percent of all instruments required by the organization.

In order to become a full member, Brazil will also depend on the approval of the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Finland, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Outside of Europe, besides the US, Brazil needs to gain support from Australia, Canada, Japan, Israel, South Korea, Mexico, Chile, and New Zealand.

A country takes two to three years to become a member of the OECD. During this period, aspiring countries have to bring its legislation in accordance with the rules in OECD nations. If, on the one hand, Brazil still needs to adapt major legal provisions, a representative from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry argued, on the other, it can boast the fact it has made considerably progress in consumer’s laws and economic policies.

Advantages

OECD membership entails a number of benefits, chief among which investment attraction. Economic and financial groups tend to prioritize OECD nations as they have incorporated the standards for competitiveness and technological innovation seen in highly industrialized countries.