Minister participates in the Mercosur Summit in Vale dos Vinhedos

The 5th Summit of Heads of State of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) was held this Thursday (55) in Bento Gonçalves (RS), in Vale dos Vinhedos. The meeting brought together presidents Jair Bolsonaro, Mario Abdo Benítez (Paraguay), Mauricio Macri (Argentina) and the vice-president of Uruguay, Lucía Topolansky. 

Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) was part of the delegation that accompanied President Bolsonaro. 

Parallel to the summit, President Bolsonaro met with Paraguayan Mario Abdo Benítez, who assumed the temporary presidency of the South American bloc for the next six months. Minister Tereza Cristina and ministers Ernesto Araújo (MRE), Paulo Guedes (Economy), Onyx Lorenzoni (Civil House), Luiz Henrique Mandetta (Health) and Osmar Terra (Citizenship) participated in the meeting.

Tereza Cristina and Ernesto Araújo also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, Karen Longaric. Brazil has a dry border with Bolivia and maintains cooperation on sanitary and phytosanitary issues.

Geographical indications

After the transfer of the rotating presidency to Paraguay, acts were signed, such as the one providing for the mutual protection of geographical indications (GIs) originating in the territories of Mercosur member countries. The objective is to prevent fraud and misuse of products typical of each country. The measure is another step towards implementing the Mercosur free trade agreement with the European Union, signed at the end of June in Brussels (Belgium). 

The list of GIs protected in Mercosur includes cachaça from the Salinas Region, Canastra and Serro cheeses and wines from Vale dos Vinhedos, according to the Presidency of the Republic.