The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) has discussed trade opportunities on the basis of a free trade agreement at the Brazil-South Korea Seminar on Economic Cooperation in São Paulo (SP) between Mercosur and the Asian country, which can generate an increase of US $ 12.5 billion in the trade balance in exports to Brazilian agriculture.
According to CNA International Relations coordinator Camila Sande, negotiations between the South American bloc and the Koreans have a good chance of being concluded by 2020. “There is now a need to increase cooperation between the productive forces. Korea had a trade flow of $ 1 trillion last year. Brazil needs to be more present in these exchanges, “he said.
She explained that South Korea has 16 free trade agreements with 57 countries and added that the Asian country wants to encourage Brazil’s greater access to global value chains. However, stressed Sande, there are challenges for Brazil to make real gains from the agreement, such as regulatory issues, which need to be more harmonious between the two parties, as well as tariff issues.
“Good news is that there will be a parallel working group on regulatory issues throughout the negotiations. Brazil can gain a lot from Korea in exports of animal protein, grain and dairy products. Tariff reductions, however, need to be aligned with the negotiation of sanitary and phytosanitary agreements. Brazil needs to rush behind the losses, because South Korea already has agreements with the main competitors of the Brazilian agro “, warned the coordinator.
João Rossi, general coordinator of the Extra-Regional Negotiations of the Department of International Negotiations of the Ministry of Economy, emphasized that the acceleration of trade negotiations with South Korea is one of the pillars of the new government’s trade liberalization policy. The next round of negotiations will be in July 2019 and the expectations are of significant progress.
