06/19/2024 – 21:50
In an interministerial meeting this Wednesday, the 19th, the government received the rice sector to discuss the public purchase auction of imported and processed cereal and debate the current scenario of national supply. The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, was attended by the head of the ministry, Paulo Teixeira, the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and the president of the National Supply Company (Conab), Edegar Pretto.
To representatives of the sector, the government maintained its position of importing the cereal at public auction, but signaled that it will wait for a new meeting with producers to launch the notice for the new event and that it may consider the sector’s suggestions for the construction of regulations of the notice, sources reported to the Broadcast Agro.
The next meeting between the government and rice farmers is scheduled for after the launch of the 2024/25 Harvest Plan, probably on Thursday, the 27th. Therefore, until then, the new notice should not be published. The productive sector told the ministers to maintain their opposition to the auction, but did not receive any indication of annulment or cancellation of the initiative.
The meeting was attended by the Federation of Rice Growers Associations of Rio Grande do Sul (Federarroz) and representatives of the Rice Sector Chamber and the Rio Grandense Rice Institute (Irga). “The dialogue was very positive. We understand their side and they understand ours,” said a government source.
According to interlocutors, the notice is being reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU). “The possibility of Conab participating in the qualification of companies beforehand and finding out if they have the capacity are mechanisms that could be included in the new notice”, said a source who is following the negotiations.
In a statement, the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, said that the sector tends to present proposals to stimulate rice production in the country. “Measures were discussed to stimulate rice production in Brazil and guarantee quality food at a fair price at the final costumer. The review of the rules for preparing a new notice for the purchase of rice by Conab is in the final phase”, stated Fávaro. Conab is authorized to purchase up to 1 million tons of processed and imported rice to curb the increase in cereal prices.
The president of Federarroz, Alexandre Velho, said that the government “opened a possibility for dialogue and seeking a joint solution”. “The government still has the mechanisms it has in hand, but it is important that the government also understands the risks to the productive sector and opens up the possibility of dialogue in the coming days to seek solutions to try to build something that does not pose such a big risk to the productive sector, such as auctions”, explained Velho. “All possibilities will be studied with producers, cooperatives, industry and even the consumer sector”, he stated, in relation to the mechanisms that will be studied. “The production sector hopes to find another solution (other than the auction). What the government did was open this dialogue and agree to talk in the coming days”, added Velho.
According to the rice farmers’ representative, the production sector will carry out an in-depth study to present options to the government. Velho stated that he was guaranteed by the Executive that another auction notice would not be published before the next meeting with the sector. “We took this time to try to find other paths that accommodate everyone. A more in-depth conversation had not yet taken place, in person, with all the actors, with the presence of two ministers and the president of Conab. I am satisfied that the government opened the door to talk,” he said.
Velho also stated that government representatives “made it clear” that they do not want to harm the productive sector and that there is an interest in expanding the planted area. “This is what brings security so that there is no shortage of food on the consumer’s table and, on the other hand, we also state that we have to have at least the production cost met”, he reported. “The supply issue has been overcome. The government’s concern is that it does not increase consumer prices too much, but we clarify that price formation is international and rice at R$7 or R$8 per kilo is 1% of the market. The average is R$5 to R$6 per kilo at retail.”
However, the sector differs from the Executive’s data regarding domestic rice consumption this year, predicted by Conab at 11 million tons. For rice growers, national demand will remain at 10.5 million tons as it has been in the last five years. Even with the government’s signal to maintain the public purchase of the cereal, Velho says that the sector expects the auction to be canceled.
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