Brasília – At a meeting held this Tuesday (5th), the Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex), the Brazilian government’s policymaking organization for the sector, decided to lift the tax on wheat imports from non-Mercosur countries. At present, the rate is 10%.
The measure will remain in force from April to June this year, for an initial quota of 1 million tonnes, which is liable to be increased to 2 million. The information was supplied by the International Relations secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Célio Porto.
According to him, Argentina, the leading exporter of wheat to Brazil, has not defined the volume it can supply to the country, thus the quota of zero tax imports is still amenable to change.
Brazil has a meeting with Argentina scheduled for March 4th to discuss the topic. Other countries, such as Uruguay, have already set the amount that will be available for exports.
The secretary informed that the Brazilian Wheat Industry Association Trigo (Abitrigo) put forth a request for the tax to be lifted on 2.5 million tonnes of the product. However, because Brazil’s National Supply Company (Conab) has 500,000 tonnes available, it might not be necessary to exempt such large volume from the tax.
According to Abitrigo, crop failures have been taking place in both Brazil and its supplying countries, causing problems with meeting domestic demand.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
