Ag minister announces measures to fight the effecs of milk imports in Brazil

In the city that goes by the moniker “Brazil’s milk capital,” the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, announced the federal government will be purchasing powdered milk at retail prices on an emergency basis. The stopgap measure intends to help milk producers in Brazil get by while they face strong competition from imports coming from Mercosur countries. The announcement was made during the opening address of Agroleite 2023, a market event that took place on Tuesday, August 8.

“Confronting unbridled imports is a commitment I assume here on behalf of President Lula,” highlighted the minister.

Along with the president of the National Supply Company (Conab), Edegar Pretto, Fávaro stated that more emergency measures will be adopted for the sector this week. The purchase of powdered milk at retail prices is one of the actions that aim to reduce the supply of products in the market and ensure profitability to the cooperatives and, consequently, producers.

Regarding the import of milk from countries like Argentina and Uruguay, the minister assured that the agreement with Mercosur is sensitive and the issue is being properly studied by the federal government.

The chart below shows Brazil’s containerized milk imports (hs code 0400-0404) between Jan 2019 and Jun 2023. The data was gathered by the Datamar B.I. team.

Milk imports into Brazil | Jan 2019 – Jun 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

“Mercosur is a very important trade bloc for Brazil. We sell to these countries manufactured products that give us a lot of competitiveness, gains, and opportunities, but this cannot occur to the detriment of such an important chain, which generates jobs, such as the milk chain”, he commented.

In addition to the emergency measures, Fávaro stressed that structuring actions for the sector will be necessary. “Being here and seeing the very high quality of milk production technologies is spectacular. It is certain that the chasm that exists between Brazilian dairy farmers must be bridged through hard work, dedication, science, and investment in order to correct this massive distortion. And Brazil, which is already a world leader in soy production and exports of soy, cotton, beef, and pork, may indeed become a major world player in milk production, and we must work hard to make that happen.”

Source: Mapa

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