With no market for meat, Lula tells Kishida to try barbecue

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) asked this Friday (May 3, 2024) for the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, to try a Brazilian barbecue during his visit to São Paulo. The statement was made during a speech to journalists to detail the bilateral meeting between the countries at Palácio do Planalto. The meeting did not materialize Brazil’s main appeal to Japan, which is to open the market for Brazilian beef exports.

“I don’t know what you had for dinner last night, but for God’s sake, if you’re in São Paulo, you [Alckmin] will be there, you were governor of that State, you are the Minister of Development, you are the Vice President, please take Prime Minister Fumio to eat a barbecue in the best restaurant in São Paulo, so that, the following week , he starts importing our meat, to be able to generate development”said Lula.

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The president told a story about when another Japanese prime minister visited Brazil. At the time, the Asian country did not buy Brazilian fruit and the PT member offered mangoes to the Japanese authority. According to the PT member, after a few months, the country began exporting fruit to Japan. The idea was to repeat the feat with meat.

“Our meat is of quality and is cheaper than the meat you buy. I don’t even know the price, but I know it’s cheaper. And it is of extreme quality”he declared.

Health challenge

According to the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, there is a health challenge that the government needs to overcome to access the Japanese market. For him, this will be resolved by May 2025.

The issue is to have the Brazilian herd free from foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination. There are already some States that fulfill this requirement and the government has already sent the documentation to international bodies, but it should only be released next year.

“I’m sure we anticipate 1 year [a abertura de mercado]. By May 2025, Brazil will be completely free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination and this then generates the expectation of overcoming the health barrier”these.

Fávaro stated that the entry of Brazilian meat into the Japanese market helps Brazilian businesspeople, but also the Japanese, as it is a cheaper and higher quality product.

“I am convinced that very soon Brazil will access this market and it will be a great opportunity both for Japan to have quality meat and help control inflation there and here for Brazil to have another important country in the purchase of our protein ”he declared.

VISIT OF THE JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER IN BRAZIL

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Brazil this Friday (May 3, 2024) to meet with President Lula to strengthen the relationship between the 2 countries and discuss commercial benefits. The main theme of the visit was a possible opening of the Japanese market to Brazilian beef and pork.

In addition, Lula and Kishida also discussed a possible agreement between Japan and Mercosur (Southern Common Market), investments to combat deforestation in the Amazon and measures to try to reform the UN Security Council (United Nations). , the target of criticism from the PT member since the beginning of his 3rd term.

The 2 met at Palácio do Planalto, where they made a joint statement. At the meeting, 4 acts were signed between the Japanese and Brazilian governments. Read below:

• green partnership in which Japan will contribute to the Brazilian system for recovering degraded areas;
• memorandum of understanding in the area of ​​cybersecurity;
• memorandum of understanding between Apex-Brasil and Jetro (Japanese Foreign Trade Organization) for partnerships and investments; It is
• memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Industry of Japan on industrial co-creation.