Specialist Sergio Cardoso, director of operations at Itaobi Representações with expertise in Commerce, published a note on his profile on the social network Linkedin, where he highlights some points of attention regarding the import of rice. According to him, the Federal Government's decision to import rice via the National Supply Company (Conab) appears to be unaware of the situation.
“Conab does not have the necessary expertise to conduct such an operation, from purchase to control, logistics and availability at points of sale. I say this with confidence, as I work daily in this market, negotiating raw materials for industries and importing and exporting rice according to market demand and convenience. And being part of this market, I can say that the government has no idea what it is getting involved in”, he comments.
He cited his personal experience with impulse and unnecessary imports, which occurred in 2020/2021 with the acquisition of rice from India. “The merchandise, which was supposed to arrive by the end of the year, ended up arriving at the beginning of the following year, when the market had already identified sufficient stocks, as is currently the case. Furthermore, it is important to highlight the issue of quality. The responsibility for quality assessment lies with MAPA and ANVISA”, he adds.
“Both released the lots at the ports for sale and consumption, even though the goods were completely outside the minimum quality standards required. This generated numerous complaints, exchanges and caused great inconvenience for importers of this Indian rice, not to mention the financial and image losses of the brands. Now, with Conab's move to acquire rice, prices have already increased in the foreign market among potential sellers, not to mention the problems already reported above”, he concludes.
Source: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
