* Brazil rejects revision of Doha negotiating package
* WTO urges Brazil to cut tariffs and other import barriers
GENEVA, March 9 (Reuters) - Brazil called on Monday for current proposals under negotiation to be the basis of a deal in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) long-running Doha round.
The call, by Brazil's WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo, was an apparent rebuff to the United States, which said last week an imbalance in the current negotiations must be corrected by other countries opening their markets more to U.S. businesses.
"We are of the view that the package on the table is a good basis for the resumption of the negotiations. In light of the ongoing economic crisis, the gains that we could obtain from the package on the table are not to be thrown away," Azevedo told WTO members during a regular review of Brazil's trade policy.
WTO members are now conducting technical negotiations on the basis of revised negotiating texts in agriculture, industrial goods and some other key areas that were produced in December.
The WTO had been considering holding a meeting of ministers that month to seek a breakthrough in the Doha talks, launched in late 2001 to free up world trade and help developing countries export their way out of poverty.
But WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy decided the gaps between members were still too wide for a meeting, not least because the United States felt big emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil were not opening their markets enough to U.S. goods.
Major U.S. business groups have told President Barack Obama they are unhappy with other countries' offers. They say the Doha talks should not simply pick up where they left off in 2008, a view reflected in the annual U.S. trade agenda report issued last week.
Azevedo said last week Brazil could not allow the current package, based on years of give and take, to be reopened.
TARIFF PROTECTION
In a report prepared on Feb. 2 for its review of Brazil's trade policy, the WTO urged Brazil to lower import duties and other barriers to tackle the economic crisis and sustain growth. "Brazil needs to press on with its efforts to give additional impetus to trade and investment, including by lowering effective tariff protection, reducing the use of import prohibitions and providing greater predictability to the foreign investment and trade regime," the WTO said.
The report noted that Brazil, one of the keenest supporters of a Doha deal, has raised tariff protection over the past five years, taking the average rate it applies on imports to 11.5 percent in January 2008 from 10.4 percent in January 2004.
The WTO also called on Brazil to join its government procurement agreement, to give more Brazilian businesses the chance to compete for contracts and bring down the cost of government purchases for taxpayers.
At present, more than 40 percent of procurement contracts have some kind of waiver from tendering requirements. Foreign suppliers present in Brazil generally receive the same treatment as Brazilian companies, unless the offers are identical. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Kevin Liffey)