The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, stated this Tuesday (7) that the federal government may import up to one million tons of rice to keep the price of the product stable on the domestic market, which is equivalent to one billion kilos of grain.
According to the minister, the purchase must be made by the National Supply Company (Conab), linked to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), on the foreign market.
Fávaro believes that Most of this product would come from member countries of the Mercosur, such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, as they have lower costs, precisely because they are members of the bloc and also because they are closer to Brazil.
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Still according to Fávaro, the intention of measure is not to compete with Brazilian rice producers, but avoid a rush for the product that raises prices and produces shortages on supermarket shelves. According to the minister, the purchase will be made in parts.
At first, san auction would be held to purchase 200 thousand tons of rice by Conab. This first round of purchases would be for the product already peeled and packaged, which can be immediately sent for final sale to the public.
The Minister of Agriculture also said that purchases will cease when the government understands that the market is stabilized and that further intervention from Conab is no longer necessary to guarantee product stocks.
Rio Grande do Sul is the largest rice producer in Brazil. According to Fávaro, the state is responsible for production of 70% of all grain production on Brazilian soil. According to the minister’s figures, around 1.6 million tons of the product have not yet been harvested from the fields.
“The big difficulty is the logistical structure, taking it from Rio Grande do Sul and taking it to the consumer centers. We want to avoid an exacerbated increase. If we are quick to import, we won’t have this stage. That’s why it’s already husked and packaged rice”, stated the minister.
According to him, the purchase of rice depends on the approval of the calamity legislative decree in the National Congress and a provisional government measure opening extraordinary credit. This way, Conab would have access to the resources necessary for the purchase.
Fávaro also stated that it is not yet possible to estimate the amount of money that will be needed to rebuild the productive infrastructure in the state.
He said that there is still no way to quantify the damage to agriculture, he needs to wait for the water to subside. But agriculture is well affected.
Fávaro also stated that he took requests made by associations in the agricultural production sector to the federal government. One of the appeals is for the National Monetary Council (CMN) to extend all debts owed by producers in the sector in the state of Rio Grande do Sul for 90 days.
According to him, Minister Simone Tebet (MDB), of Planning and Budget, who makes up the CMN, should take the request to an extraordinary council meeting, Minister Fernando Haddad (PT), of Finance, and Roberto Campos Neto, president of Central Bank, are the other members.
Fávaro also stated that the reconstruction of the production and product flow infrastructure in the agricultural chain in Rio Grande do Sul will need to be built and that the government has already prepares lines of credit to serve producers.
The minister said that he welcomes a financing program along the lines of what was done during the Covid-19 pandemic with Pronampe, with financing for producers linked to a guarantee fund.
Tags: rain government import million tons rice maintain stable prices Policy
