Brazil's accession

Fourteen WTO members (counting the European Union as one) are signatories to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, a plurilateral agreement. Brazil's accession request is the first to be reviewed by the signatories in this Committee. All other members that acceded to the Agreement since 1995 did so in the context of their accession to the WTO.

Deputy Minister and Executive Secretary of Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Marcio Elias Rosa, and the Secretary of Foreign Trade, Tatiana Prazeres, participated in the meeting.

Deputy Minister Rosa underscored that Brazil's accession to the Civil Aircraft Agreement reflects the nation's unwavering commitment to the principles of the WTO and the enhancement of international supply chains. As one of the foremost global players in the aeronautical sector and a longstanding member of the WTO, Brazil has taken a significant stride in advancing its integration into the global landscape, he said. This pivotal move holds great importance for the aeronautical production sector and for the mobility of both people and goods across the world, he added.

In force since 1 January 1980, the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft obliges signatories to eliminate import duties on all aircraft, other than military aircraft, as well as on all other products covered by the Agreement. These include civil aircraft engines and their parts and components, all components and sub-assemblies of civil aircraft, and flight simulators and their parts and components.

Brazil submitted its application to accede to the Agreement in June 2022, providing its proposed tariff commitments. Since then, Brazil's application has been considered at a number of meetings of the Committee.

Other issues

Transposition Exercise of the Product Coverage Annex

The chair of the Committee, Jean-Marie Meraldi of Switzerland, outlined the process that the Committee would follow to update the products list of the Agreement — currently expressed in the 2007 version of the Harmonized System — to align with the 2022 version of the Harmonized System. This system is an international nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization, which allows all participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis.

Implementation of the Agreement

The chair explained that the Transposition Exercise of the Product Coverage Annex should take place before the Committee can address improving the transparency of how signatories are implementing the Agreement.

Next meeting

The Committee is scheduled to meet for its next regular meeting at the end of October or early November 2024.

More information on the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft can be found here.