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The Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, announced a preferential trade agreement between the Mercosur countries and the Customs Union of South Africa. This agreement is applicable in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho.
The treaty allows a reduction of tariffs on the import of pork and beef by-products for the countries of both blocs.
Negotiations for the agreement, which envisages the creation of a free trade area between these countries and was published on Monday in the Official Journal, have been under way since 2008.
The director of the Department of Market Access and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil, João Rossi, said that it is essential to extend negotiations to include other products such as dairy, poultry, fruits and processed foods. According to Rossi, "Brazil has only a 4.4% share of total imports from South Africa, which amounted to 6.7 billion in 2014".
In addition, the agreement should include issues such as investment, government procurement and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which contribute to the expansion of world trade and social and economic development of these countries.
Monday, April 4, 2016 / Ministry of Agriculture / Brazil.
http://europa.eu/
