EU proposes ethanol import deal to Brazil: Mandelson

(GENEVA) - The European Union has proposed giving Brazilian exports of ethanol easier access to the European market as part of a trade deal, the EU's trade commissioner wrote on his blog on Friday.

Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, who is here with EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, added that any deal would depend on Brazil in return offering greater market access to unspecified European exporters.

"At a bilateral meeting with the Brazilian Minister Celso Amorim, Mariann and I make it clear that we were ready to explore a potential deal that could provide significant and valuable new access in the EU for Brazil's crucial bioethanol exports," he wrote Peter Mandelson.

"Surprisingly, given the importance of this question in Brasilia, Amorim seemed to dismiss the value of such an offer for Brazil."

Brazil has been pushing to gain better market access for exports of ethanol to the United States and Europe as part of global trade talks that are taking place here this week.

"Ethanol should be part of a deal this week," Carlos Conzendey, head of the economic department at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, told AFP on Wednesday.

Brazil is one of the world's leading ethanol producers, with the bulk of its production going to its domestic market as fuel or additive for gasoline.

The European Union could grant greater market access by lowering the tariffs it levies on imports of ethanol from

The US is the world leader in ethanol output, accounting for 48 percent of worldwide production last year, ahead of Brazil at 31 percent, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.