Brasília, March 15, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Today the Ministry of Agriculture (Mapa) is inaugurating the Organic Farming Sectorial Chamber.

The Chamber, linked to the Agribusiness Council (Consagro), will act as an advisory organ to the Ministry and will be responsible for debating the sector's problems and proposing public policies to make the sector more efficient and competitive on the domestic and foreign market.

The Chamber brings together representatives of the private sector and the federal government. The goal is to bring them together to set guidelines to drive organic farming in the country. Since the creation of the Consagro in 2003, 13 sectorial and thematic chambers have been installed. The one for Organic Farming will be the 14th. The Mapa is expected to set up other ones this year.

According to the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), Brazil has 7.1 thousand organic farmers who are certified or in the process of obtaining certification. The area occupied by organic farming corresponds to 170 thousand hectares, and the sector is growing 20% each year.

According to the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe), of the University of São Paulo (USP), the value of organic production in Brazil was estimated to be US$ 150 million in 1999. The world market for organic products amounts to US$ 30 billion annually. Japan is currently one of the largest importers of organic foods, with a demand representing US$ 7 billion. (DAS)