Thetarget
consists
inraisingBrazil’s
shareintheglobal
agricultural
marketfrom6.9%
to10%, infiveyears
The investments in research and sani-
tary surveillance, in all supply chains, nor-
mally give rise to concerns and fears, in
light of the risks they represent for the bu-
sinesses. Do the economic, infrastructu-
re and human resources available in the
Country at present allow for maintaining
or expanding security about the normal
conditions in production environments?
Howdo you envision this area?
Phytosanitary safety is fundamental
for the Country. And our sanitary surveil-
lance is one of the best in the world. The
letter of equivalence that we managed to
get from the North-American government
in 2016 attests to this. Relative to the ques-
tion of human resources, I think we have
to further reduce the bureaucracy of all
public services and make the productive
sector more responsible. The question of
the labels, for example, up to the Agro+
Plan, for a product to be launched in the
market, it needed the approval by the
ministry, which dictated the type of label.
In case of any wrong comma, the ministry
showed the mistake, and the process was
returned to its origin. This used to take
months. No longer. The farmer accesses
the site, fills in the register, sends the label
and it is approved. Inspection comes later.
If the farmer is not complying with the la-
bel, they will be held accountable. Under
such circumstances, we will be able to re-
quire more responsibility from the farm-
ers, leading us to gain in productivitywith-
out losing quality.
You have been asking for the need to
expand the portfolio of agribusiness pro-
ductsBrazilmight be (orwill be) able toex-
port, as well as intensify agreements with
economic blocs and countries. Is thegover-
nment as a whole responsive if it comes to
adopting such strategies? Which products
ormarketscouldperhapsbecontemplated
easily and speedily, in the short run?
The government has been working in
unison. Our relationship with the Itamara-
ty, with the Foreign Trade Chamber (Cam-
ex) andwith the Brazilian Trade and Invest-
ment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) is
excellent. Everything is done in coordinat-
ed manner, the words are the same, even
between Mercosur countries.
What is your expectation for 2017 re-
garding agricultural production and busi-
nesses, alongwith the attraction of invest-
ments from international partners?
The perspectives couldnot be better. Ac-
cording to projections, either from the Na-
tional Food Supply Agency (Conab) or from
theBrazilian Instituteof Geography andSta-
tistics (IBGE), we will harvest a record crop
in 2017. Conab, for example, estimates
the 2016/17 crop at 215.3 million tons, up
15.3%, or 28.6 million tons from the previ-
ous year’s crop, which amounted to 186.7
million tons. The total planted area is also
estimated to soar 1.3%, or 745.6 thousand
hectares, compared to the previous crop,
with chances to reach a total of 59.1 million
hectares. With regard to an expansion in the
global market, we are finding our way into
several countries, as I have mentioned be-
fore. At themoment, we have just found our
way into the South African market. There is
great expectation. I amoptimistic.
Inor Ag. Assmann
13
