Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – The Brazilian floriculture sector, which generates around 120,000 jobs and has turnover, on the domestic market, of US$ 800 million, and foreign sales of US$ 19.4 million, is betting on the installation of a Sector Chamber to provide incentives for an export increase in 2004.
The Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply Ministry decision to install a Flower and Ornamental Plant Sector Chamber aims mainly at supporting operations for the development of activities and export in the sector.
Sérgio Pupo Nogueira Júnior, president of the Brazilian Institute of Floriculture (Ibraflor) explains that the Chamber will operate as a forum for the study of subjects that are holding back foreign trade.
According to him, the new organization will diagnose the productive chain, update production statistics per region and analyse the main barriers for export growth.
According to the Ibraflor president, apart from the sanitary barriers imposed by some countries, the greatest difficulty found to increase participation on the foreign market is bureaucracy. "We have to provide many documents when we are going to sell abroad, and, many times, this makes export impossible," he commented.
"We intend to eliminate this process and, in two years, hope to have reached export of US$ 60 million," he stated.
The Sector Chamber may help increase participation, discussing the main blocks and providing concrete solutions to strengthen Brazilian products on the foreign market.
Meeting
Next Tuesday (10), members of the Sector Chamber will be participating in a meeting at the Agriculture Ministry, in Brazilian capital Brasília, to discuss all sector operations and define practical measures to be adopted this year.
"I believe that among the main topics to be discussed is the law that permits development of laboratory bred species, registration of products for use in floriculture, and reduction of bureaucracy at airports," he stated.
The Ibraflor president believes that the creation of a Time Saver system for Exporters would centralize and simplify the foreign sale process.
FloraBrasilis
So as to increase Brazilian participation on the foreign market, in 2000, Ibraflor developed the Brazilian Flower and Ornamental Plant Export Program (FloraBrasilis), together with the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex).
The Ibraflor president stated that the project would go on with government support in 2004. "FloraBrasilis was restructured in 2001, targeting greater autonomy for productive regions," explained the executive.
"This year, we will work hard on the promotion of our products on the foreign market. We will participate in four important international events, in Germany, France, Italy, and the United States," he stated.
The greatest buyers of Brazilian flowers are Holland and Italy, responsible for 50% of export. "However, in recent months, the North American market has been growing," he pointed out.
30.2% growth
The sector currently counts on 4,000 producers concentrated mainly in the southeastern states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and in the northeastern states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Ceará. According to Ibraflor data, in 2003 sector export growth was 30.2% over the 2002 values.
The annual export result for 2003 was US$ 19.4 million, raised by excellent foreign sales in December 2003. In that month alone, foreign sales reached US$ 1.96 million, 39.05% more than sales in December of the previous year.
Contact
Ibraflor
Telephone: (+5519) 3746-1663
E-mail ibraflor@ibraflor.com.br
