Brazil seeks to import Indonesian cocoa
Brazil seeks to import Indonesian cocoa
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuter): Brazil's Agriculture Ministry is awaiting a reply from Indonesia's government before it decides whether to approve a request to import cocoa, an official from the ministry's plant inspection department said.
The Indonesian embassy in Brasilia has been asked to check that conditions in a particular growing region are unchanged from the end of 1995 when a group of Brazilian officials visited the region and certified there was no risk of pest or disease.
"If the situation has not changed, then probably imports will be allowed. The Indonesian embassy has said it will give a reply by next week at the latest," the official said.
A group of four companies has requested to import cocoa in the light of an anticipated supply shortfall of up to 15,000 tons during the upcoming midcrop (May/September).
Local growers in the Bahian region yesterday formally gave their blessing to imports up to August.
Indonesia is currently the only country which has been pre- certified as free of risk by the Brazilian government following new regulations set down after a number of problems with the purchase of 5,000 tons of Ivorian beans in 1995.
Indonesia's clearance was the result of a request to import an experimental cargo of cocoa last year, the official said.
The Agriculture Ministry received the latest request this week and has already checked through international databanks to see if there has been any obvious change in conditions in the area, which is the first stage of the authorization process.
Given there was no statistical evidence of any problems, the ministry then asked the Indonesian embassy in Brasilia to make its own checks.
While confirmation from the embassy will probably lead to the ministry giving its go-ahead to the imports, any news of change could mean a team of technicians being dispatched to carry out a fresh risk assessment survey.
If and when the Agriculture Ministry approves the imports, there is no limit on quantity, the official said.
"There is no fixed quantity, this is open. The idea is to check whether the companies can import or not." he said.
The full process of checking a new producing region takes around two months but the ministry has so far received no other requests to look at origins such as the Ivory Coast, the official said.
"We have great problems with African nations as they have diseases which at the moment cannot be controlled. And so if there was a request, we would probably have to do a full risk assessment study," he added.