Ambassador Sherman’s
TTIP Outreach Tour: Alentejo Region
September 21-22, 2014
In Partnership with
Ambassador Sherman’s
T-TIP Outreach Tour: Alentejo
September 21, 2014 – September 22, 2014
Sunday, September 21, 2014
08:30
Depart Lisbon ert Evora (by car)
10:00
Arrive Evora
10:30-14:00
Harley-Davidson Promotion Event
10:30
Assemble at Praça do Giraldo
11:00-12:15
Motorcycle Ride from Évora to Alcácer do Sal
(+Sergio Neves, Oscar Monterrosa, J Piper)
12:15-14:00
Lunch at Herdade Vale Sabroso
Showcase of 2015 Harley-Davidson Models
AMB TO DELIVER SHORT REMARKS
14:00
Depart Alcacer do Sal ert Evora
15:00
Down Time at Convento do Espinheiro Hotel
16:00
Depart Evora ert Herdade do Esporão
17:00-21:00
Tour of Herdade do Esporão Vinyards
Private Dinner h.b. Antonio Roquette
RON
Convento do Espinheiro Hotel, Évora
Monday, September 22, 2014
08:30
Depart Hotel ert Quinta do Zambujeiro, Vila Viçosa (est. 30 min.)
09:00-10:30
Visit to Quinta do Zambujeiro Winery
Zambujeiro is a SME wine and olive oil producer located in the Alentejo. It
produces approximately 100,000 bottles of wine each year, and 80% of
production is exported. Exports to the United States began this year.
09:00
09:10
09:30
10:15
Arrival and Photo-Op
Company Presentation on History, Operations, and Exports
Tour of Vineyard and Facilities, Winetasting
Group Photo
10:30
Depart Quinta do Zambujeiro ert Dimpomar (est. 15 min.)
10:45-12:15
Visit to Dimpomar Marble and Natural Stone Company
Dimpomar is one of region’s largest marble producers. It has only 80
employees, but boasts over 10 million euros in annual sales. The company
exports to 48 countries; 30% of production is exported to United States.
10:45
10:55
11:15
12:00
Arrival and Photo-Op
Company Presentation on History, Operations, and Exports
Tour of Facility
Group Photo
12:15
Depart Dimpomar ert Elvas (est. 30 min.)
12:45-14:30
Roundtable/Lunch with Local Businesses, h.b. Mayor José Almeida (PS)
w/GoP Participants
 Bruno Maçaes, MFA State Secretary for European Affairs
 Pedro Pessoa e Costa, AICEP Executive Director
14:30
Depart Elvas ert Delta Cafes, Campo Maior (est. 30 min.)
15:00-16:30
Visit to Delta Cafes
Portugal’s largest coffee seller, founded in 1961. Founder Rui Nabeiro is
Campo Maior native and quintessential entrepreneur, growing company from
a single 50 square-meter warehouse to a conglomerate with more than 3,000
employees and more than 250 million euros in annual revenue.
w/GoP Participants
 Bruno Maçaes, MFA State Secretary for European Affairs
 Pedro Pessoa e Costa, AICEP Executive Director
15:00
15:40
16:20
Arrival at Centro da Ciencia de Café, Coffee and Tour
Tour of Factory and Operations
Group Photo
16:30
Depart Delta Cafes ert Lisbon
18:00
Arrive Lisbon
T-TIP Top-Line Messages
T-TIP presents an enormous economic and strategic opportunity. If successful, T-TIP will
increase exports on both sides on the Atlantic and promote international competitiveness, particularly
if we can bridge the divergences in our regulatory and standards regimes without lowering the overall
level of health and safety and environmental protection. Beyond the economic rationale, T-TIP
presents a historic opportunity to put our economic partnership on par with our security and
relationship. The strategic logic of T-TIP has never been more clear.
T-TIP will boost economic growth and jobs, particularly among small and medium sized
businesses. Small businesses are important generators of jobs, innovation, and economic growth in
both the United States and the EU, and are a significant focus in T-TIP. Removing tariffs levels the
playing field for all businesses, but particularly helps small firms, where even a small tariff may limit
their ability to sell overseas. Non-tariff barriers, such as unnecessary differences in product and
regulatory requirements, disproportionately disadvantage smaller companies seeking to sell the same
product in different markets, since large companies can more easily afford the costs of multiple
production lines and compliance requirements.
T-TIP is a zero-deficit way to improve the economy. Given lagging Eurozone growth numbers and
lingering austerity measures, the agreement represents a boost to growth and jobs without big public
expenditures.
The United States is committed to T-TIP. As our leaders said in Brussels in March, the United
States and the EU are committed to concluding expeditiously an ambitious and comprehensive
agreement. President Obama reaffirmed this commitment after meeting with Chancellor Merkel in
May, saying the agreement’s completion is “critical to supporting jobs and boosting exports in both the
United States and in Europe.”
U.S. market access ambitions for T-TIP remain high. The United States stands firmly behind the
joint goal spelled out in the June 2013 Final Report of the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs
and Growth, which recommended the launch of negotiations: the elimination of all duties on bilateral
trade. From our perspective, a successful agreement must also provide for ambitious outcomes in
services, investment, and procurement.
Our regulatory goals include increased transparency, public participation, and accountability.
We are pursuing an inclusive approach to developing regulations and standards in the T-TIP, which
relies on increased transparency, participation, and accountability by regulators and standard-setters.
The goal is to achieve better, and less divergent, regulations in a way that is consistent with our
shared democratic principles and maintains our high levels of consumer, safety, and environmental
protection. T-TIP’s economic gains would not be worth having if T-TIP undermined regulatory
protections. President Obama has made clear that he would not sign an agreement that weakens
consumer and environmental protections.
Ambassador Robert A. Sherman
U.S. Ambassador to Portugal
Robert A. Sherman of Massachusetts arrived in Lisbon on April 5, 2014 to serve as Ambassador of
the United States of America to the Republic of Portugal. Ambassador Sherman presented his
credentials to the President of the Portuguese Republic, His Excellency Aníbal Cavaco Silva, on May
30th, 2014.
Ambassador Sherman is a lawyer by background who has been active in local and national politics for
many years. He was an original member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee and
a member of President-Elect Obama’s Transition Team, where his principal responsibilities involved
vetting for cabinet level positions. In January 2013, President Obama appointed Ambassador
Sherman to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Prior to becoming Ambassador, Mr. Sherman was a founding member of the Boston office of
Greenburg Traurig, a large international law firm. He was Massachusetts’ Assistant Attorney General
and Consumer Protection Division Chief from 1991 to 1993, and served one year as Special Counsel
to the Massachusetts Attorney General. There, he was responsible for the Attorney General Office’s
federal and multistate initiatives with the Department of Justice and Attorneys General offices around
the country. He also worked on President Clinton’s crime bill.
Ambassador Sherman has a wide-range of trial and regulatory experience, including government
investigations and litigation and internal corporate investigations -- with an emphasis on Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance -- as well as consumer protection and class action defense.
Ambassador Sherman holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rochester and a J.D.
from Boston University School of Law. He is married to entrepreneur and lawyer, Ms. Kim Sawyer,
and he has two adult children.
Bruno Macaes
State Secretary for European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Bruno Macaes holds a law degree from the University of Lisbon and a doctorate in political science
from Harvard. He was a professor of international economic policy at Yonsei University in South
Korea (2006 to 2007) before working for the American Enterprise Institute in 2008. From 2008 to
2011, he helped create a new international university in Berlin, the European College of Liberal Arts.
Macaes served as political advisor to the Prime Minister from June 2011 to March 2013, before his
nomination to his current position as State Secretary for European Affairs. He has written op-eds in
local press promoting T-TIP and penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed calling for a “trans-Atlantic
energy pact.” In July, he co-hosted an event presenting a study of T-TIP’s positive effects on
Portugal’s economy.
Pedro Pessoa e Costa
Board Member, AICEP
Pedro Pessoa e Costa received a law degree from the Classic University of Lisbon in 1985. In that
same year, he conducted post-graduate studies in European affairs at the Catholic University, and in
1987, Pessoa e Costa conducted coursework in government communication at the Institute of Public
Administration Studies (IEAP) in Paris.
Pessoa e Costa began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988, first in Sub-Saharan African
Affairs and later in the Directorate of Training and Research. He has extensive experience in
European affairs, beginning with his appointment as diplomatic advisor to the State Secretary for
European Integration in 1988. He later served as Counselor in the Portuguese Embassy in London
(1994 to 1999), as Head of Intra-European External Relations (1999 to 2000), Diplomatic Advisor to
the State Secretary for European Affairs (2000 to 2002), and as Permanent Representative of
Portugal to the Council of Europe (2002 to 2007).
From 2007 to 2009 he was Chief of the Portuguese Mission to the Community of Portuguese
Language Countries (CPLP), and from 2009 to 2010 he taught at the Defense College NATO in
Rome. Pessoa e Costa then worked for the Deputy Secretary General of SEGIB before joining AICEP
in 2012.
Quinta do Zambujeiro produces of some of the highest-rated wines in Portugal, according to reviewer
Robert Parker. Swiss wine lover Emil Strickler purchased the vineyard in 1998, and hired an expert
Portuguese management team to manage production from the vine to the bottle. All grapes are
selected by hand, and all wines mature in French oak barrels for 12 to 24 months. 80% of production
is exported, with exports to the United States starting this year. FDA labelling requirements make
exports difficult for this small company.
Andrea Anselmo, Sales Manager, has been with Quinta do
Zambujeiro for two years. She is responsible for new market
development and exports, as well as domestic brand promotion. She
has 20 years of experience in public relations and sales, and
graduated from the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa.
Nuno Malta, General Manager, has been the chief wine maker and
oenologist at Quinta do Zambujeiro for the last 12 years. He has
worked extensively as an oenoloist and cellar master throughout
Portugal.
Luis Lourinho, Oenologist and Cellar Master, has been with Quinta
do Zambujeiro for 11 years. He previously worked at the cellar of
Herdade do Mouchao. Lourinho graduated from the Universidade de
Evora with a degree in Agricultural Engineering.
Since 1980, Dimpomar has mined and transformed Portuguese marble and stone, with exports to
more than 40 countries. 20% of this company’s sales go to the United States. Transportation
contributes up to 20% to the total cost of the stone, and management has said shipping costs from
Portugal to the United States are more expensive than to China, due to a lower volume of shipping
container traffic across the Atlantic. Increased trade between the Portugal and the United States could
improve the cost profile of this medium-sized producer of high quality Portuguese marble.
Luis de Sousa, CEO, founded the company in 1980 in Vila
Viçosa. Since its inception, de Sousa has oriented the company
toward external markets, and has participated in Portuguese
trade delegations with the President of the Republic.
Pedro Cabral, Sales Manager, has worked with Dimpomar for
more than 20 years and is in charge of marketing the
company’s products, including trade shows in the United States.
Elvas, located just 15km west of Badajoz, Spain, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its 17 thcentury border fortifications and aqueducts. The Business Association of Elvas and the City Council
are interested in boosting the region’s exports, from Alentejo agricultural products to tourism.
Nuno Mocinha, President of the City Council of Elvas, was elected
in 2013 and has worked for the Socialist Party for 16 years. His
priorities in office are to improve logistics networks from Elvas to
Sines and to promote regional tourism. Mocinha holds a degree in
economics from the University of Evora.
Francisco Javier Fragoso Martinez, Mayor of Badajoz, Spain,
took office in 2013 and is a member of the Popular Party (centerright). He served as city councilman of Badajoz from 1995 to 1999
until he was selected as spokesperson for his party in the Provincial
Representation of Badajoz. Fragoso is also an economist and
professor of financial economics at the University of Extremadura.
Nelson Pestana, President of the Business Association of Elvas,
owns a business consultancy and accounting company based in
Elvas.
Delta Cafes is a coffee roasting and packing company, and is the domestic market leader with more
than 30% market share in Portugal. Rui Nabeiro, born and raised in Campo Maior, founded the
company in 1961 with three employees, two small roasters, and one 50 square meter warehouse. The
company now has more than 3,000 employees and more than €250 million in annual revenue. Its
parent company, the Nabeiro Group, has interests in agriculture, real estate, hotels, and other
services.
Rui Nabeiro, CEO and Founder, is one of the most
well-known entrepreneurs in Portugal. Born and raised in
Campo Maior, he started working at the age of 13 to
help his father and uncles with a small coffee roasting
business and his mother at a grocery store. In 1961, he
founded Delta Cafes, and in the five decades since,
Nabeiro has grown the business into the domestic leader
in coffee sales and a diversified conglomerate with
exports to 30 countries.
Nabeiro is also known for his service to the community,
having served as Mayor of Campo Maior (1977 to 1986)
and President of the Campo Maior Sporting Club (1971
to 1990). In 1995, he was awarded the title of Comendador of the Republic by President Mario
Soares. In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator by
President Jorge Sampaio. In the same year he was awarded an honorary degree by the Universidade
de Evora.
Luisa Meireles
Journalist, Expresso
Luisa Meireles has been a journalist with Expresso since 1989, where she specializes in European
affairs and defense. As a special envoy, she covered the end of the Soviet Union and the democratic
transitions of countries in central and eastern Europe, including conflicts in the Balkans. She
published a book, “And After Iraq,” in 2003 and is currently a principal editor at the newspaper.
Meireles holds a law degree from the University of Lisbon and a degree in European studies from
Catholic University of Portugal.