The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019 45 Open Skies, Open Markets Brazil, 2018 By Paul Brown and Naomi C. Fellows In 2011 the United States and Brazil signed a bilateral Open Skies Air Transport Agreement to provide new market access options for the airlines of both countries. Open Skies agree- ments give the public expanded choices for flights and services and offer exporters more choices when they ship goods. These benefits would only become available once the agreement entered into force—but for that to happen, Brazil’s National Congress needed to ratify the agreement. From 2011 to 2016, however, the agreement remained with the Brazilian executive branch and legislature. In the meantime, air links between the two countries were limited, affecting both market entry and services. Delay in reaching a new agreement imposed real costs on both countries. The United States is the biggest market for international flights with Brazil: U.S. air carriers transport more than 60 percent of the passengers between the two countries. But they could not reap the full benefits of their invest- ment in Brazil or with Brazil- ian airlines without Open Skies in place. Alliances and pro- posed joint ventures between U.S. and Brazilian airlines—the norm in the liberalized aviation markets of several other impor- tant Latin American partners—also remained at a standstill pending entry into force of the new agreement. With the arrival in office of a new Brazilian president in 2016, U.S. Embassy Brasilia, working closely with the State Department and interagency colleagues, undertook a con- certed campaign to put ratification of the agreement at the top of our bilateral economic agenda. The ambassador and country team members repeatedly raised the issue with Brazil- ian officials and legislators. The embassy facilitated a visit by Brazilian congressional leaders to Washington, D.C., where U.S. officials were able to stress the benefits of ratification. Senior State Department officials raised the issue with their Brazilian counterparts to make clear the importance we placed on this agreement in the context of the overall bilateral relationship. Embassy officers and Locally Employed staff intensively engaged Brazilian legislators and industry representatives. Over a five-month period, from October 2017 through Febru- ary 2018, we strategized and executed a missionwide, vote-by- vote advocacy effort in Brazil’s Congress. We made the case for Open Skies with the Brazilian travel, tourism and business groups who would benefit from the agreement, encouraging them to advocate with their congressional representatives in favor of Open Skies ratification. The embassy’s insight into the Brazilian Congress and its internal dynamics generated an effective advocacy effort. Our Open Skies ratification team held meetings—both group and individual—with legislators and staffers, using statistics to highlight the concrete results of successful Open Skies agree- ments signed with other countries and showing Open Skies as a win-win agreement for both parties. The team spent days on the floor of the Brazil- ian Congress tracking how members were voting and engaging congressional staff when the vote became close. Weeks of patient, hands-on diplomacy led to the agree- ment’s ratification, first by the lower house in December 2017, then by the Federal Senate in February 2018. The embassy then worked with Brazilian counterparts to use the visit of Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan in May 2018 to finalize entry into force. U.S. airlines celebrated Brazil’s entry into force of the Open Skies Agreement on May 23, 2018. One major U.S. airline will now be able to move plans forward on a joint venture with a Brazilian carrier. Combined, these two carriers transport more than 40 percent of all passengers traveling between the United States and Brazil. Another U.S. airline has since increased its investment in a Brazilian airline by more than $100 million. As a result of the new agreement, these airlines and others will be able to offer new flight options for travelers and shippers in both countries. To put these gains in context, the U.S. commercial aviation industry supports more than 5 percent of U.S. GDP and more The team spent days on the floor of the Brazilian Congress tracking how members were voting and engaging congressional staff when the vote became close.