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Among the participants were the Regulatory Coordinator of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), Karina Fontes Coelho Leandro; the professor at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Paulo César Corrêa; and the president of the Contracts Committee of the National Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec), Marcos Gomes Amorim.
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According to Arioli, China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it intends to change its internal soybean classification standard at the beginning of this year. Among the proposed changes are a reduction in the moisture content of the grains, from 14% to 13%, and an increase in oil and protein content.
“Brazil has already exported 66 million tons of soybeans in 2021 and, of this total, 70% was destined for the Chinese market. This volume is equal to the entire soybean production in Argentina in the last harvest. We need to understand how this new Chinese soybean standard could affect Brazilian production and exports,” he said.
According to Karina, the revision of the Brazilian soybean standard (IN nº 11/2007) has been discussed since last year and this should favor the technical debate regarding China's proposed changes. She presented the main differences identified in the Asian country's proposal on points such as the scope of standards, mandatory compliance, tolerance tables and quality parameters – high oil and protein levels.
“Apparently the new rule is less strict than the current standard, especially with regard to damaged grains. It raised a concern in the scope of the standard, which became mandatory. We are in contact with the Chinese authorities to find out how this control will be carried out. This is our biggest concern at the moment,” he said.
Paulo César explained that the standard is the basis for the commercialization of any product and can vary over time, production characteristics and buyer requirements, among other aspects. He also analyzed possible difficulties that Brazilian producers will have in meeting the new standards and Brazilian regional differences in soybean production.
“The reduction in moisture content will require greater energy expenditure for drying, but the proposal is positive for reducing transpiration losses in storage. We will also need to invest in improvement and new varieties that can meet higher levels of oil and protein”, he declared.
Marcos Gomes Amorim spoke about how Anec's standard contract is developed and how the official soy classification criteria influence purchase and sale negotiations. According to him, standardization is suggested by the Association and will always “mirror” the product being sold in Brazil.
Mapa's Quality Regulation coordinator informed that a public consultation will be opened to discuss Brazil's soybean standards in the coming weeks. After publication in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), the document will be made available in the Normative Acts Monitoring System (Sisman).
Source: DATA
