São Paulo – The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa, in the Portuguese acronym) is promoting a mission to Egypt and Iran starting next weekend. Minister Neri Geller will lead the delegation comprised of government officials, representatives from beef and poultry exporting companies, sectorial entities and halal certifiers.
One of the main goals of the trip is to negotiate the lifting of the ban on beef exports from the state of Mato Grosso. Both countries suspended imports after the causative agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy – aka mad cow disease – was detected in an animal in the state.
The case was considered “atypical”, as, according to the Mapa, it was due to the animal’s old age rather than infection. Brazil’s mad cow disease risk status remains negligible, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE, in the French acronym).
The Mapa’s International Relations secretary, Marcelo Junqueira, told ANBA that the delegation wants to show the governments of both countries that “Brazil’s animal health is on par with the best in the world” and that most markets that had banned imports after the occurrence of the case have already resumed purchasing. “We hope to come back [to Brazil] with these issues solved,” he pointed out.
Another subject to be tackled in Egypt is the cargo-by-cargo inspection of poultry exports adopted this year by the country, meaning that all the shipments need to be inspected, rather than samples only. “We will hear their position on this and find out the reason for this requirement, since other countries do not impose this obligation,” he pointed out.
In his assessment, the measure increases costs for the exporter and also the shipping time, and thus encumbers the consumer. “I am sure we can discuss this issue and reach a good agreement,” he asserted.
Junqueira also mentioned that the trip is being taken at a moment of “good news” for Brazilian meat exporters, with the opening of the Chinese market for Brazilian beef and the increase in demand from Russia, after the country embargoed imports from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway, in response to the sanctions imposed to Moscow due to its support of Russian separatists in Ukraine.
According to him, the mission is part of market “maintenance” tasks. The secretary stressed that Brazil is the leading beef and poultry exporter in the world and is capable of supplying traditional partners even with demand from new markets. “As suppliers, we do our homework,” he said. “The buyer is always right; if Arabs want halal cuts, we will offer them, and with that we conquer new markets,” he added, in reference to animal slaughter in accordance with Muslim tradition.
Support
The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will participate in the mission, but only during the trip to Egypt, since Iran is not an Arab country. As the first stop of the delegation is in the Persian nation, the organization’s CEO, Michel Alaby, and Government Relations manager, Tamer Mansour, will arrive two days prior in Cairo for meetings with local organizations.
One of the meetings will be with representatives from the League of the Arab States, with whom Alaby wants to discuss the implementation of the online process of certification and export legalization, which will cut down costs and time for these operations. The Chamber is the only Brazilian organization authorized by the League to carry out the process of certification of origin and documents in sales to the Arab world.
They will also convene with executives from the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Egyptian Industries with the objective to rally support for Brazil’s demands to lift the ban on shipments of beef from Mato Grosso and to end the cargo-by-cargo poultry inspection.
The delegation will also have representatives of large companies that export to these markets, such as the meat packing groups JBS, Marfrig and Minerva, and BR Foods, the holding company that owns the brands Sadia and Perdigão, in addition to executives from the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters (Abiec) and the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).
Trade
Egypt is one of the leading importers of beef from Brazil. According to information from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Egyptian exports amounted to US$ 284 million between January and July, up 23% from the same period last year, in spite of the embargo placed on Mato Grosso.
Poultry exports to the Arab country, however, grossed US$ 73.42 million year-to-date through July, down 16% from the same period in 2013.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
