BRASILIA, Brazil – With the presence of the Brazilian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Francisco de Assis da Silva Lopes, leading a delegation of senior officials of the Ministry and the Government of Brazil, and the Colombian delegation, led by the FNC CEO, Roberto Vélez (picture), a bilateral meeting was held at the headquarters of this Ministry in Brasilia.
From the point of view of the Brazilian delegation, the visit of the CEO of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) was described as historic, as they recalled it is the first one in the last 20 years by an official delegation of the Colombian coffee growers to the Ministry that governs the destiny of coffee in Brazil.
About the World Forum of Coffee Producers, Brazil welcomed Vélez’s proposal to jointly lead this meeting, to be held in the city of Medellin on July 11 and 12, 2017, within the framework of the 90th anniversary of the FNC.
The commitment to a future technical exchange and cooperation between both countries’ institutions Cenicafé and Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) was one of the results of the bilateral meeting, held during two hours.
Other issues such as agricultural credit, Brazilian legislation on rural labor, and current mechanisms of intervention by the Brazilian Government when coffee prices are below the equilibrium point were addressed. In addition, the expansion of the coffee frontier in Brazil, in states that have not traditionally grown coffee, was discussed.
From a general point of view, this contact reopened spaces of negotiation between both countries, which are coffee leaders worldwide.
