On March 11, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA) convened a virtual meeting of the High Level Working Group to Promote Cooperation and Coordination. The group discussed challenges faced by U.S. and Brazilian agricultural products in third-country markets, opportunities to collaborate in multilateral fora, and opportunities to cooperate on agricultural research activities. The bilateral discussion included a range of topics, including among them the impact of stringent maximum residue levels on various agricultural exports, glyphosate policies in third-country markets, and opportunities to coordinate in various upcoming forum such as the United Nations Food Systems Summit and at the World Trade Organization. The Brazilian and American participants agreed to continued collaboration to address common challenges faced by agricultural producers and exporters in both countries. We look forward to strengthening our partnership via future technical exchanges in the coming months.
As two of the world’s largest agricultural producers and exporters, Brazil and the United States face many of the same challenges in foreign markets. To create a platform to share information, devise strategic interactions, and promote collaboration on a range of topics, USDA and MAPA formed the Consultative Committee on Agriculture (CCA) in 2003. The CCA and its working groups provide a cooperative forum to work towards fair trade policies for American and Brazilian products around the world. Despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the CCA working groups continue cooperation and have regularly held virtual meetings to allow subject matter specialists to exchange information and create strategies to promote science-based policies in foreign markets and international organizations.”