Esalq receives visit from Agricultural Attachés

On 27/11, the Luiz de Queiroz Higher School of Agriculture (Esalq/USP) received the six new Agricultural Attachés appointed by President Michel Temer. The professionals are technical diplomats who will represent Brazil and Brazilian agribusiness abroad at embassies in some countries.

The role of each Agricultural Attaché is to promote national agribusiness, working to open, maintain and expand markets for Brazilian products, in addition to supporting international cooperation. This is a career occupied by employees of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. To become an Attaché, one of the requirements is to have at least 10 years as a servant at the Ministry to compete for the role. “They are all agricultural tax auditors, and as is the case with a tax auditor's career, they are either agronomists or veterinarians. In this class of six new attachés, we have one veterinarian and five agronomists” said the Coordinator of Agricultural Attachés, Edilene Cambraia Soares.

Attachés have a four-year mandate abroad, after the end of this mandate, they will return to Brazil where they will be obliged to stay for two years and can apply for another country again, with a new selection process

Throughout the month of November, the new Attachés went through a preparation process. They visited research institutions and the production sector to gain insight into Brazilian agribusiness as a whole. “The objective of visiting Esalq is precisely to find out what the University is doing in terms of international cooperation, and what attachés can help the University, Esalq or any other Brazilian research teaching institution in these terms of cooperation”, he said. Edilene.

The six new Attachés will work in embassies in countries such as Colombia, Canada, the European Union, Morocco, Egypt and Indonesia. Among them is Gustavo Bracale, graduated from the 1999 class in Agricultural Engineering at Esalq. Bracale chose Indonesia, as it is a place still little known by Brazilian agribusiness. “Indonesia seemed very interesting to me, very challenging. The Asian market is little known by Brazilian agribusiness, and there I will have great job potential”, said Bracale.

Luciana Pimenta Ambrozevicius finished her doctorate at Esalq in 2010 and will continue as Agricultural Attaché for Canada. “I work in the area of ​​biotechnology and biosafety of genetically modified organisms. In the area of ​​biotechnology, we have very strong work with Canada, so it is a country that I have always been interested in, and as soon as this vacancy opened, I decided to give it a try”.

Professor Helaine Carrer, President of the Esalq International Relations Committee, spoke about the importance of this visit for Esalq. “Welcoming them brings great appreciation to us, as they will get to know our work within agriculture in Brazil, also in agribusiness and represent us outside of Brazil. All this international cooperation, interactions that also involve the exchange of student possibilities, not only in professional matters, but also academically”, said the professor. Attachés are expected to embark on future posts in the last week of December.