IX- TRADE BARRIERS

As the foregoing has sought to demonstrate, two principal reasons for agrarian reform are: 1) the concentration of landownership and 2) the dismissal of rural workers as the productive system modernizes.

A significant expansion of agricultural production would have a strong positive impact on rural employment. Thus, the question of the landless cannot be disassociated from Brazil's lack of foreign markets.

Brazil is one of the world's major grain producers. The 1996/97 harvest should exceed 81 million tons. In a relatively short period, the country's output should surpass 140 million tons. Today, agriculture accounts for 12% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP); agro-industry accounts for 35% to 40%. Last year, agricultural products made up 37% of Brazil's total exports.

In recent years, however, Brazil's principal exports, and especially those from the agricultural sector, face an increasing number of tariff and non-tariff barriers. (The latter include technical and sanitary barriers as well as quotas.) The following table cites a few examples.

During recent years, Brazil has undertaken a broad, rapid liberalization of its domestic market. Therefore, it insists upon its legitimate right of reciprocity. The barriers that hamper its products' access to the world's principal markets, such as the European Union, the United States and Japan, must be lifted.

TABLE 30