LatinNews Daily - 26 March 2025

*Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has travelled to Japan with a delegation of government officials and business representatives, with a strong presence from Brazil’s agribusiness sector. Yesterday Lula highlighted that bilateral trade in 2011 totalled US$17bn, but it currently stands at US$11bn, according to government figures. Lula expressed hope that trade can return to its previous heights, with agricultural exports as a key pillar of bilateral trade relations. In a speech at a business conference in Tokyo yesterday, Lula also expressed support for a potential free trade deal between Japan and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), the regional trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro was part of the delegation, and he reiterated the government’s hope that the Japanese market will open to Brazilian beef exports. Sanitary concerns from Japanese authorities have long been an obstacle to beef shipments, but Fávaro announced that he has met with his Japanese counterpart Taku Eto, who confirmed that Japan will send animal health experts to Brazil for an inspection. In a press release, the Brazilian government described this as an essential step in the process to enable beef exports and increase pork exports, which Japan currently only accepts from the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

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