Interamerican Ethanol Commission (IEC) Meets with Brazilian Ethanol Players

~Former Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush and former Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, co-chairmen of the Interamerican Ethanol Commission (IEC), meet in Brazil to discuss future programs for the IEC and implications of the U.S.-Brazil ethanol agreement ~

April 16, 2007 (Sao Paulo, Brazil) –The Honorable Jeb Bush, former Governor of the State of Florida is in Brazil today with a group from the Intermamerican Ethanol Commission to meet with His Excellency Roberto Rodrigues, President of the Superior Council of Agribusiness of FIESP and former Minister of Agriculture of Brazil, to discuss future programs for the IEC and possible implications for the US-Brazil ethanol agreement. Bush has pointed out that “together, the U.S. and Brazil produce 70% of the world’s ethanol” and emphasized that the “bilateral partnership between the two countries is the foundation for a global ethanol market.”

Bush was joined by a distinguished group from Florida that included the co-chairs of the Ethanol Advocacy Committee: Jorge L. Arrizurieta, Chair, Intl. Policy Group, Akerman Senterfitt; Dominique Virchaux, Managing Partner, Virchaux & Partners; and Mario Fernandez, President, COFE Properties, LLC. The delegation also included Yuda Saydun, Executive VP, AgCert; Bill Perry, Principal, William Perry & Associates and Marcel Negherbon, Interamerican Ethanol Commission.

Today, planned meetings in Sao Paulo include a joint roundtable with FGV, a school of management and national research powerhouse and the Brazilian Association of Agrobusiness (ABAG), at which Bush, Rodrigues and Luiz Carlos Correa Carvalho from ABAG will participate as panelists. Welcome remarks to be given by Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal, President of FGV and Carlo Lovatelli, President of ABAG.

The roundtable will be followed by a luncheon at the American Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo attended by key business and political leaders including the Alexandre Silva, Chairman of AMCHAM and President of GE Brazil; the Executive Director of the Chamber, Arthur Vasconcellos Filho; Linneu da Costa Lima, Secretary of Agroenergy, Ministry of Agriculture; Christopher McMullen, U.S. Consul General in Sao Paulo; Maurilio Biagi Filho, CEO of Maubisa; Ray G. Young, President GM Brasil; Eduardo Wanick, President Du Pont Brazil; Fernando Tigre, Advisory Council of C&A; Jeffery Safford, VP Eletropaulo; and José Francisco Gonzalez Davos, VP Dedini S/A. Key points to be made by Bush include an analysis of the political and commercial barriers to free trade in biofuels and how these and other issues must be addressed to best reap the economic, developmental, and other benefits that an increased ethanol industry promises. He will also discuss how together, Brazil and the U.S. can contribute to the creation of a viable hemispheric biofuels market and will emphasize that the elimination of the 54-cent tariff on imported ethanol is the quickest, least expensive way for the United States to significantly increase ethanol supply.

Following the lunch, the IEC team will go to BM&F, one of the largest Futures Markets in the world and a prominent place to trade carbon credits and ethanol where they will be meeting with BM&F CEO Edemir Pinto, board members and advisory council. After that, the group is set to visit GM plant where they will be hosted by Ray G. Young, President and Managing Director of GM of Brazil and be given a tour of the facility with special emphasis on the FlexFuel unit. That evening, Jose Gomes de Silva will host a dinner for the industry and political leaders.

Tomorrow, April 17th, the IEC delegation will travel to Brasilia where they will have a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture with Minister Reinhold Stephanes to which the following ministers have been invited: Silas Rondeau, Minister of Energy; Miguel Jorge, Minister of Development, Industry and Trade; and Sergio Rezende, Minister of Science and Technology. In the sequence, the IEC Team will visit Brazilian National Congress where they will meet with Marcos Montes, President of the Congressional Agriculture Commission. Following Congress, the group will visit Palacio do Planalto where they are scheduled to meet with Jose Alencar, Vice President of Brazil. The trip ends with a luncheon hosted by U.S. Ambassador Clifford M. Sobel at his residence.

Throughout the mission, both Bush and Rodrigues will be highlighting and promoting the main objectives of the commission which include: promoting increased ethanol blended fuel use throughout the region; promoting the integration of technical and scientific research efforts across the hemisphere related to the production and distribution of ethanol; determining investment needs in both agriculture and infrastructure to enable a hemispheric wide market for ethanol blended fuel; determining the economic and environmental implications of carbon credits produced by the project; encouraging the development of environmentally sound ethanol operations; and recommending a set of actions in order to create an international market for ethanol.

In addition, the Commission will promote its Strategic Ethanol Information Campaign. Recognizing that lack of information and misinformation are among the principal obstacles hindering expansion of the ethanol market, the commission views education as key to the success of increased ethanol production and consumption and aims to serve as a clearinghouse for up to date, accurate, and objective information on ethanol. This information will be shared with the general public, policy makers and shapers, industries, and investors.

Moreover, Bush and Rodrigues stressed that cooperation on renewable energy has the potential to serve as a uniting force in the Americas, contributing toward economic growth and a cleaner environment. Both alluded to the significant opportunities expanded ethanol production holds for sustainable development and job creation throughout the Western Hemisphere.

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The Interamerican Ethanol Commission promotes the usage of ethanol in the gasoline pools of the Western Hemisphere and is co-chaired by Jeb Bush, former Governor of the State of Florida; Roberto Rodrigues, President of the Superior Council of Agribusiness of FIESP and former Brazilian Minister of Agriculture; and Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank. The commission will serve to foster awareness of the benefits of renewable fuels in economies throughout the Americas and contribute toward a framework for a rationalized and viable regional marketplace in ethanol, promoting the policy guidance necessary to spur both foreign and domestic investment in renewable fuel production and infrastructure.

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