Brazil, Chile ink deal on organics

The agriculture ministers of Brazil and Chile—Blairo Maggi and Antonio Walker Prieto—signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at promoting efforts to facilitate the trade of organics between the two countries. The two government officials took part in the meeting of the Southern Agricultural Council, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Under the mutual recognition system, the law in both countries [accepts] the certification of participatory warrant systems, which stimulates the inclusion of small and medium businesses in the external market. – Agência Brasil / Tomaz Silva

The text includes mutual cooperation in the inspection and control of products and policies directed at the development of organic production, in addition to improved databases as well as norms and regulations governing the activity.

This is the first mutual acknowledgment of equivalent norms on organic production negotiated between South American countries, which shows commitment with the development of sustainable economies, said Odilson Ribeiro e Silva, international relations secretary for agribusiness with the ministry.

“Today, only large organic producers reach the foreign market, due to the high cost of international certificates. Under the mutual recognition system, the law in both countries [accepts] the certification of participatory warrant systems, which stimulates the inclusion of small and medium businesses in the external market,” the secretary argued.

The meeting is slated to end today (21), and is also being attended by the ministers of other country members of the council—Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.