Brasília, June 14, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, signed a Normative Order establishing technical procedures and tolerance levels for mixtures of treated or toxic seeds, impurities, foreign materials, and humidity with salubrious soybeans.

The rules will apply to both domestic sales and exports. Proportional samples will be permitted to contain only one "contaminated" grain per kilogram. Moreover, "the portion will be kept for laboratory analysis and confirmation of possible tolerance, as part of this analysis," the Minister affirmed, emphasizing that this is the number one rule in the new norms.

The second point, according to the Minister, is that rules stipulated in contracts between countries "will have precedence over this decision: If more than one grain per kilo is tolerated, there will be no problem; if less, the language of the contract will prevail." All samples containing over one contaminated grain will be submitted to laboratory analysis, he added. From then on it will depend upon the contract between exporter and importer.

CONTRACTS

With the new rule, the government acquires the power to monitor the fulfillment of contracts both domestically and abroad. "The Normative Decree establishes a clear position on the part of the Brazilian government vis-á-vis our private sector. What is certain is that more than one contaminated grain will cause the shipment to be retained, and sale will be forbidden." The Minister also remarked that the formulation of the norm was only possible after many negotiations with the private sector, and "it is our expectation that the country will be able to meet this requirement."

The measurement of indexes of soybean contamination is conducted by international certifiers from the conveyer belts which embark the product for exportation in the ports. In every 5 thousand tons, a batch of 20 kilos is withdrawn. This volume yields a one-kilo sample, which is used for the inspection.

The Ministry of Agriculture's action follows China's refusal to accept Brazilian soybeans on the grounds of supposed contamination. In the past 40 days four soybean shipments, three from Rio Grande do Sul and one from Santos (SP), were rejected by Chinese importers.

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, Roberto Rodrigues, sent an official correspondence to the Chinese Embassy in Brasília informing the measures adopted by the Ministry for soybean exports and asking the Chinese government to reevaluate its criteria for the classification of soybean imports.

Reporter: Adriano Gaiesky
Translator: David Silberstein