LatinNews Daily - 23 January 2025

*Brazil’s agriculture ministry has announced that China’s customs administration has suspended some soybean shipments from Brazilian companies. The government was confirming a report published on 22 January by news agency Reuters, which revealed that Chinese authorities had detected traces of pesticides and the presence of pests in shipments from five companies imported from Brazil. The agriculture ministry stressed that other shipments from the same companies continue to export normally to China, with the suspensions only valid for the five specific shipments. In a press release, the ministry stated it would submit all the relevant information to authorities in China so that the suspensions can be lifted. Brazil is the world’s top soybean producer and China is the main importer of soybean from Brazil, so sanitary issues could be a potential concern for trade relations. Brazilian environmental groups have raised concern over legislation to strip away restrictions and checks on pesticide use, such as a bill passed by the federal congress in late November 2023 that reduced the role of the environmental and health regulators, Ibama and Anvisa, in the pesticide review process. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed parts of the bill in January 2024, but lawmakers overturned some of the vetoes in May.

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