Brasília, July 4, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - If Brazil wants to continue selling food products to the United States, it will have to hurry to adapt to the requirements of the new American bioterrorism law, which goes into effect on December 12. Yesterday (3), a seminar was held in the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss this law, with the participation of representatives of the government and the private sector. In reality, bioterrorism became a concern after September 11. The Americans are afraid of importing contaminated food products.

At the opening of the seminar, "Bio-security and World Trade in Agricultural Products," the Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, said that what weighs most in the discussion of the American law is the increase in costs. According to Rodrigues, these costs will initially be the responsibility of exporters. "Whether this sector will have to assume these expenses alone or whether they will be transferred to the productive chains is what needs thorough discussion, to get a clear idea of the onus and the bonus," he declared.

Rodrigues observed that the new American law is valid for all markets that export food products to the United States. As a consequence of the global concern about bio-terrorism, he imagines that the same kind of measures can be adopted by other countries. "We need to examine this question with a great deal of criteria, care, and security, so that, five months from now, we won't be caught by surprise as a result of our own incompetence."

To meet the requirements of the new law, Brazil will have to revise its entire process of certification and trackability of the food products it sells to the United States. "There will be a certification and prior authorization of exports. Products will have to pass a new set of norms imposed by the American bio-terrorism law," Rodrigues explained. (DAS)