Minister Maggi launches agribusiness sustainability seal at GAF

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), Blairo Maggi, launched this Monday (23), during the Global Agribusiness Forum 2018, in São Paulo (SP), the “Brazil Agro: Good For Nature” seal, which aims to function as a sustainable certification for Brazilian agricultural products in international markets.

According to Maggi, the first products with the seal should start arriving on the markets in October. “It is an initiative of the federal government, with the support of several entities from various segments, meat, wine, among others,” he said. According to the minister, with the seal, the consumer will be able to find out more about the origin and traceability of the product through the barcode. “We want to present confidence to domestic and international consumers.”

In his presentation, Maggi, once again, highlighted that Brazil has 66,3% of preserved native vegetation, which is equivalent to 48 countries in Europe. In addition to this extension, the minister highlighted, 25,6% of the country's area is preserved within farms. “There are around 218 million hectares that are preserved by producers, approximately 50% of the total area of ​​rural properties.” According to Maggi, producers spend around R$20 billion per year to maintain and preserve these areas, without receiving any financial return.

Based on calculations made by Embrapa and endorsed by NASA, the minister also highlighted that agriculture uses only 7,8% of the country's area and livestock farming only 8%. “Brazil takes care of its environment, so no one has the right to criticize Brazilian agriculture in this aspect.”

Opening

The GAF opening ceremony was attended by authorities and ambassadors from several countries, including China, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, among other nations from the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The FAO representative in Brazil, Alan Bojanic, was also present.

In his speech, the president of the Council of the Global Agribusiness Forum (GAF), Cesario Ramalho da Silva, called on all agribusiness agents to fight for food security as an instrument for world peace.