At a meeting in Parliament in Brussels, the minister defended the country's environmental and labor legislation
In a meeting at the European Parliament this Wednesday (25), Minister Blairo Maggi (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) said that there is a lot of ignorance about Brazilian agriculture. “Our environmental, labor and social legislation is even stricter than European legislation”, he guaranteed. Maggi invited European parliamentarians to come to Brazil and get to know its agricultural production up close.
The minister clarified several doubts regarding Brazilian production and explained that there are two models in Brazil: family farming and industrial farming. He said that in the states in the South and Southeast regions of the country, the majority of properties are small. In the Midwest, he added, the properties are larger.
He recalled that there is a ministry responsible for offering technical assistance and financing to small producers and that this type of agriculture operates more for the domestic market. Brazil sells 12 billion euros in agricultural products to the European Union and buys 1.2 billion. Blairo noted that there are comparative advantages in bilateral trade, such as the fact that the European bloc buys Brazilian raw materials and adds value to these products. This is the case with coffee, cocoa, meat, soy and corn.
The minister also met, in Brussels, with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phill Hogan.
