São Paulo – Some products from Morocco have entered Brazil more quickly since the beginning of this year. The Arab country obtained accreditation for a local laboratory to issue reports on exports of beverages, wines, olive oils, and olive pomace oils to Brazil.
This means when these products arrive from Morocco at Brazilian ports, they no longer need to wait for a report from a Brazilian laboratory to be cleared for entry into the country.
“This facilitates imports, certainly giving more competitiveness because the import process becomes faster,” told ANBA the general coordinator of Plant Quality at the Agriculture and Livestock Defense Secretariat (SDA) of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), Hugo Caruso.
Certain foods need a report for their clearance into the Brazilian market, containing information on Brazil’s requirements to allow the product into its market. In the case of olive oils, one of the information that must be included is the level of acidity, which needs to be within the parameters established by Brazilian regulations.
When the country has a laboratory accredited in the Registration System of Foreign Organisms and Laboratories (SISCOLE) to issue a report for that product, the goods are cleared to enter Brazil after verification of the documentation at the port, without having to wait for a report to be issued by a Brazilian laboratory. SISCOLE is an electronic system used by the MAPA, in which foreign laboratories with this accreditation are registered.
If the imported product arrives in Brazil without a report from the country of origin, it needs to wait for a local analysis to enter the Brazilian market. “Depending on the type of product, it could take ten, twenty days,” says Caruso, noting there have already been cases in which the issue of a report for olive oil took thirty days.
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The coordinator explains that even with the foreign laboratory report, the product will undergo analysis in Brazil, but only for a percentage of the shipment, and will be cleared at the port before the result comes out. “We believe the report sent with the cargo is one the Moroccan government recognizes,” says Caruso.
Through the embassy
The Moroccan organization accredited to issue reports on exports to Brazil of the products mentioned above is Morocco Foodex. The request came from the Moroccan embassy in Brazil. According to the embassy’s chargé d’affaires, Hibat Allah Faouzi, Morocco Foodex entered SISCOLE for wines in January and olive oils in February. Morocco is a leading global supplier of olive oil and wine.
Caruso explains some countries have several accredited laboratories. “We guide (the embassies) requesting the importation to be facilitated. Today, a good part of the countries exporting to Brazil already have this accreditation to avoid goods from staying idle for a long time,” he says. SISCOLE is aimed at products of vegetable origin, including beverages and wines. According to Caruso, the great advantage of the system is to streamline the import process.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
