Vantagens comparativas reveladas e orientação regional das exportações agrícolas brasileiras para a União Européia

The paper analyses the Brazilian agricultural trade with the European Union (EU), in the context of the negotiations for a commercial agreement between Mercosur and the EU. We calculate indexes of revealed comparative advantages (RCA) and regional orientation (RO), for the period from 1991 to 2001. We selected the following products: soybeans, orange juice, tobacco, chicken meat, bovine meat, sugar and coffee. Altogether, these products corresponded to more than 20% of total Brazilian exports in that period. The products that show the highest Brazilian participation in world trade are soybeans, orange juice and coffee. Except for sugar, all the analyzed products had the EU as an important destiny for the exports. The results indicate comparative advantages for the Brazilian products, showing stable or increasing indexes along the decade. Besides, there is a high orientation of Brazilian exports to the EU, except for chicken meat and sugar, but with no increases in the period. Thus, an agreement between the blocs, reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, may result in a trade creation, in favor of Brazilian agricultural exports to the EU