The agriculture team of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) prepares the final details for the bilateral agenda between Brazil and India during the trip to the country next Wednesday (17). One of the main focuses is the opening of the market for Brazilian agricultural products, with negotiations around pigeon peas and the reduction of tariff barriers on Brazilian chicken.
According to the Secretary of Commerce and International Relations of Mapa (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock), Luis Rua, the negotiating team is working to advance on two central points: the sanitary opening for the export of Brazilian pigeon peas and the discussion on Indian tariffs that currently reach around 100% for chicken cuts.
“We are working more on the issue of pigeon peas, which has enormous potential and has advanced technical treatments, and tariffs, for example, on chicken cuts,” Rua told CNN.
The Brazilian government’s idea is to structure a commercial predictability mechanism, possibly with a specific quota for chicken cuts, still under negotiation. According to the secretary, the final design will depend on conversations with the Indian government.
“That’s the idea, but we still need to listen to the Indian side,” he said.
India is the world’s largest consumer of grain, the basis of local food, but faces production fluctuations and turns to foreign markets in years of crop failure.
Brazil appears as a competitive supplier, with production concentrated in the Center-West and Northeast, and shipping capacity if there is access to the market.
Products such as DDG (by-product of corn ethanol), animal flour, wood and yerba mate appear on the radar of regional negotiations, still at an early stage, and are part of the government’s effort to diversify Brazilian exports on the continent.
Negotiations between the two countries also involve demands from the Indian side. Among them is the interest in advancing the opening of the Brazilian market for pomegranates produced in the Asian country, an issue that appears in conversations as part of an attempt to expand agricultural trade in two ways.
“Indian Dream”
The assessment within the government is that the presidential presence can give political weight to trade negotiations and reinforce the strategy of diversifying agribusiness markets, especially in countries with large domestic consumption.
The commercial relationship between Brazil and India has gained relevance in recent years. Bilateral trade flows around US$12 billion annually, still considered modest given the size of the two economies, but with the governments’ official target of increasing the volume to around US$20 billion by the end of the decade.
Advancing with negotiations in a country with more than 1.4 billion people is an “Indian dream” that the Brazilian government still cherishes.
Asia already accounts for almost half of Brazilian agribusiness exports, and the government assesses that the expansion of markets in the region is essential to sustain the growth of the sector’s foreign sales in the coming years.
Lula’s trip takes place at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and includes bilateral meetings, participation in the Artificial Intelligence Summit and an agenda with businesspeople at the Apex-Brasil Forum, where topics such as food security, agricultural innovation and commercial cooperation should be on the agenda.
The president participates in the opening of the Artificial Intelligence Summit on the 19th and 20th and closes the Business Forum on the 21st, when he also inaugurates the Apex-Brasil office in New Delhi. The bilateral agenda also foresees the signing of acts between the two countries and discussions on the expansion of the tariff preference agreement between Mercosur and India.
South Korea
After the Indian stage, where the main objective of the agricultural area will be to formally relaunch negotiations for the export of Brazilian beef.
Negotiations had been initiated in the past, but did not progress due to internal political issues in the Asian country.
The South Korean market is considered strategic as it is one of the largest importers of beef in Asia and pays high premiums for quality protein. Today, countries like the United States and Australia dominate supply to the country.
The delegation will also include representatives from the private sector, such as the president of Abiec (Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries), Roberto Perosa.
According to government members, the expectation is that the presidential presence will help to reactivate the dialogue and resume the technical process necessary to open the market, a stage that involves health inspections, evaluation of protocols and negotiation between authorities from both countries.
