São Paulo – The first meeting of the Brazil-Saudi Arabia joint commission in 34 years was held this Tuesday (14th) in Brasília and culminated with the signing of agreements, the approval of online certification of documents of origin in Brazil for shipping to Saudi Arabia, and arrangements for Saudi technicians to inspect Brazilian meat packing plants to lift the embargo on Brazilian beef in place in Saudi Arabia. Officials from both governments also discussed broadening the bilateral trade portfolio and increasing Saudi investment in Brazil.
One of the agreements, for aerospace, determines the amount of flight frequencies, routes and airlines from the two countries that can operate flights between Brazil and Saudi Arabia. In sports, exchange actions will involve young athletes and coaches in all modalities. A diplomatic cooperation agreement provides for the training of foreign relations professionals from both countries. Before entering into force, the documents require approval from National Congress.
The joint commission is composed of the Brazilian foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, his Saudi counterpart, Nizar bin Obaid Madani, and the secretary general of Foreign Relations at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, ambassador Sérgio França Danese, and other officials from both governments. In his address, Danese said relations between the two countries are “dense” and “promising,” and that the meeting will have a “multiplicative” effect upon them. The agreements were signed by Vieira and Madani.
During the joint commission meeting, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) announced that the Gulf country is adopting online certification of documents of external origin for products Saudi Arabia imports from Brazil. The certificates of origin are issued by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which represented the private sector at the meeting. The Federation of Muslim Associations in Brazil (Fambras) was also in attendance.
According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber CEO Michel Alaby, online issuance of certificates will speed up the release of said documents and minimize the risk of forgery. “The (issuance) cost is lower and there are advantages to exporters and importers alike, because the time required for documents to be legalized drops from 20 to five days. The risk of issuance of forged documents (by other legal entities) is ruled out,” he said.
At this time, documents pending certification are submitted by the exporting company to the Arab Chamber, in São Paulo, which forwards them to the Saudi embassy, in Brasília. The papers are then returned to São Paulo, and then to their original issuer. Through online certification, this “itinerary” is eliminated and the time required for issuance of the certificate is cut down.
The Arab Chamber is the only Brazilian institution authorized to issue certificates of origin for Brazilian products. Alaby believes the first online certificates will be issued in June.
Meat packing companies
Alaby also said the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture will provide the SFDA with a list of livestock and poultry slaughter facilities in Brazil. From the list, the Saudis will pick ten slaughterhouses and ten poultry plants to inspect, before lifting the embargo on Brazilian beef. Poultry imports have not been banned, and the inspection will be carried out so that business can continue. Saudi Arabia is the leading importer of poultry from Brazil.
The Saudis haven’t bought Brazilian beef since late 2012, when Brazil belatedly reported that a cow in the state of Paraná, bearing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, aka mad cow disease, died in 2010, although it did not actually develop the disease. Since then, several countries refrained from buying beef from Brazil, but most of the bans have already come to an end.
Saudi Arabia and a few Gulf countries that abide by its sanitary decisions, such as Kuwait, still have embargoes in place. The slaughterhouses will undergo inspection from May 28th through June 12th. Once the visits are completed, the embargo is expected to end.
“I believe this measure will erase the negative image stemming from the fact that Brazil did not report the occurrence of the mad cow causative agent in a cow in Paraná in timely manner. This is sure to improve relations (between the countries).” The Arab Chamber CEO also said the joint commission ends on a “very positive” note, and that further meetings should take place biennially.
In his address, Danese remarked that Saudi Arabia is Brazil’s foremost Middle East trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding US$ 5.8 billion last year. Brazil exports foodstuffs, such as meats and sugar, to Saudi Arabia and imports oil, oil products and fertilizers. However, Danese said the overreliance on commodities trade must be overcome.
According to Alaby, Brazilians and Saudis considered broadening the portfolio. Brazil can potentially supply medical equipment, machinery, cosmetics, civil construction products and footwear. Besides, in his speech Danese mentioned that since last year, Brazil offers income tax exemption on profits for foreign sovereign funds investing in the country. “This is the answer to an old request from several of our interlocutors from the (Saudi) Kingdom. The path is clear for Saudi sovereign funds to increase their investiments in Brazil,” Danese asserted.
Tourism
On Monday afternoon (14th), delegates from Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) welcomed members of the Saudi delegation and presented the projects underway in Brazil for promoting the country internationally as a travel destination. The Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur) also attended the meeting, according to a statement released by the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism. According to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, over the past few days, the Saudi delegation convened with officials from seven Brazilian ministries.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
