The Minister of Agriculture of Portugal, Maria do Céu Antunes, said this Monday (12) that the country supports the Mercosur-European Union Agreement from the outset, when participating in the Portugal-Brazil Seminar: Business Opportunities in the Agro-Food Sector, in Lisbon, alongside Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply). “We remain committed to ensuring that this agreement can be put into practice quickly,” he stated.
According to Maria do Céu Antunes, in addition to improving business between the bloc's countries, with greater predictability and transparency of rules, the agreement will allow sustainable development. “It will also allow, and for us this is very important, a commitment from all parties to the objectives of sustainable development, the protection of the environment and biodiversity and respect for labor and social rights”, said the Portuguese minister.
Minister Tereza Cristina also defended the approval of the Mercosur-European Union agreement. She cited the gains for both blocs, such as better economic conditions, quality of life for citizens, generation of jobs and income, strengthening environmental preservation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “It must be said that the agreement does not represent any threat to the environment, human health or social rights. On the contrary, it reinforces multilateral commitments and adds best practices in the matter”, he said.
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Tereza Cristina said she had support from Portugal for the agreement to move forward. “We therefore hope that the malicious voices attacking the agreement do not prevail over our mutual interest in promoting sustainable development. We count on the support of the Portuguese people so that our agreement comes into force as quickly as possible.”
Portugal's support for the rapid approval of the agreement between the two blocs was also highlighted by Portugal's Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias. “Portugal has always stood out in defending this agreement, because we believe in the idea that international trade is positive, it is good, it builds bridges, it is an inducer of wealth creation and that, as our poet Fernando Pessoa would say, whoever wants peace , does commerce”, said Dias.
The Portuguese secretary said that the European Union Mercosur Agreement is one of the most developed and with a more robust chapter with regard to sustainable development. “Therefore, it is not just an agreement of interest between the two parties. The advances achieved in this chapter are important and must be valued very positively within the framework of the agreement that was possible”.
Brazilian agriculture
Minister Tereza Cristina highlighted data on the evolution of productivity and sustainability of Brazilian agriculture in recent years, including that grain production has grown by 425% since the 1970s, while the planted area has increased by only 43%. As a result, around 123.7 million hectares of Brazilian territory were no longer used for agricultural activities (land-saving effect).
Furthermore, Brazil uses only 30% of its territory for agriculture, maintaining more than 60% with native vegetation. “It is estimated that around 25% of the preserved area is on private properties, something unparalleled in other countries in the world, as it is land that the owner does not receive to preserve. It's just a legal obligation”, he stated, adding that the Forest Code provides that 20% to 80% of native vegetation on rural properties must be preserved, depending on the biome.
Pandemic and global challenge
Tereza Cristina also highlighted that Brazilian agriculture did not stop during the pandemic, guaranteeing domestic supply and exports. “Since the beginning of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, our agriculture has ensured the continuity of domestic supply and has also broken production records, maintained jobs and income and promoted growth at a time of contraction in other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, we maintained supplies from other countries and expanded our exports in 2020.”
Between January and September 2020, Brazilian agribusiness exports totaled US$ 77.89 billion, which represented growth of 7.5% compared to the same period in 2019.
Minister Maria do Céu Antunes highlighted the global challenge of increasing food production by around 70% by 2050 to guarantee adequate access to food. “This is a great responsibility for all of us. We need to produce more and to do this, we have to invest in productivity growth and guarantee the sustainability of our planet and this is essentially done with innovation, science and technology”.
The administrator of Aicep Portugal Global, Madalena Oliveira e Silva, said that Portugal wants to increase exports to Brazil. In the first half of this year, exports from Portugal to Brazil decreased by 1.2% compared to the same period last year, and imports increased by 92%.
“We want to increase our exports to Brazil, but we also don’t want to stop importing from Brazil, on the contrary. We believe that through reinforcement, reciprocity and bilateralism in commercial exchanges, this is what can be built. It’s not through imposing barriers,” he said. Aicep is Portugal's Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade.
In 2019, agricultural and food products represented 60% of the weight of Portuguese exports, equivalent to 453 million Euros and in the first half of 2020, the weight was 55% corresponding to 190 million. Regarding imports, growth was 17.5% in the first half of the year.
Brazil's ambassador to Portugal, Carlos Alberto Simas Magalhães, highlighted the importance of the commercial relationship between the two countries and said that business in the agricultural sector between the two countries deserves renewal.
Source: DATA
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