Brasília, January 16, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Japan is interested in organic foods produced in Brazil. The lack of space to cultivate products sufficient to meet Japanese demand led the Jetro - the Japonese government organ in charge of foreign business - to undertake a search for countries with capacity to produce and commercialize food grown without agrotoxins and genetic modifications.

The president of the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex), Juan Quirós, sees organics as a good business opportunity for Brazil. Exporting to Japan will represent a growth in Brazil's participation in a market with a US$ 30 billion annual turnover.

Germany and the United States are the largest importers of organic food from Brazil, especially tropical fruit, such as açaí, acerola, bananas, cashews, passion fruit, and melons. (DAS)