This would make Brazil the first developing country to accord unrestricted access to goods from the 32 least-developed country (LDC) Members of the WTO.
Some Brazilian business groups, too, are anxious about the effects of fully liberalizing all imports from all LDCs. especially companies from the textile, electronics, chemical, and machine equipment sectors are most worried. Industry representatives have asked for some 1300 products to be designated as sensitive, while the government wants to accept no more than 900.
A major concern among Brazilian industry groups is that LDCs might become a conduit for Chinese exports to be assembled and exported duty-free to Brazil. Valor reports that they are lobbying the government to toughen the rules of origin requirements for the scheme, calling for at least 50 percent of the value of an eligible product to be added in an LDC, compared to the government's proposal of 40 percent. LDCs complain that tight rules of origin requirements have left them unable to take full advantage of many other preferential market access schemes.