Brasília, June 4, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Canadian government authorized the importation of Brazilian fruit without additional (post-harvesting) sanitary treatment. In the official message to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Canadian authorities demand treatment only for apples, a procedure that is already being tested.

According to the Ministry's international affairs advisor, Gilson Westin Cosenza, the Canadian decision opens a new market for Brazilian producers and exporters, mainly of mangos, grapes, papayas, and melons, the production of which has been growing in recent years, stimulated by international trade.

According to the Ministry, Brazil is responsible for 2% of world fruit production and ranks first in papayas, the exports of which rose 140% between 1997 and 2001, when sales, chiefly to the United States and the European Union, reached US$ 22.8 million.

Grape exports have also increased. 20.6 thousand tons were sold abroad last year, as against 3.7 thousand tons in 1997. Mango exports, for their part, jumped from 22.2 thousand tons in 1997 to over 128 thousand tons last year, with earnings exceeding US$ 70.9 million.

Cosenza observes that prospects are also good for melon exports, which rose from 98,690 tons in 2002 to 149,758 tons in 2003, with earnings of US$ 58.3 million.

The Ministry apprised the Federal Offices of Agriculture in the states of the rules for trade with Canada, and Brazilian entrepreneurs can already begin negotiations.

Reporter: Kelly Oliveira
Translator: David Silberstein