May 12, 2004

 

 

Brazil Not Notified About China Soybean Import Ban
 

Brazil's government has yet to be informed of China's decision to temporarily ban Brazilian soybean imports from four international trading firms due to contamination of a shipment, an

Agriculture Ministry official said.

 

The ban was reported on Tuesday by China's official Xinhua News Agency. It said Chinese quarantine authorities acted following the discovery of a cargo of 59,000 metric tons of Brazilian soybeans tainted with seed coating agent, which contained fungicide and pesticide, in Xiamen, Fujian province, in late April.

 

According to Girabis Evangelista Ramos, director of the ministry's crop health inspection department, China has every right to punish firms should they find them to be sending unsafe produce.

 

Ramos said the Brazilian government would not intervene on behalf of the exporter should the ban be confirmed, adding that the Agriculture Ministry had done its part by increasing inspections of grain exports at port.

 

"This is an issue that has to be resolved between the exporting companies and Chinese authorities," he said.

 

The blacklisted firms are Noble Grain Pte Limited, Cargill Agricola S/A, Irmaos Trevisan S/A-Ind Com, E Agricultura, and Bianchini S/A Industria Comercio E Agricultura.

 

Officials from Trevisan and Bianchini also said that they had not been notified of the ban by the Chinese.

 

"We cannot comment until we are officially told," said one Trevisan trader.

 

Meanwhile, Antonio Luiz Bianchini, commercial manager for Bianchini, protested that shipments recently sent to China were no different to previous cargoes sent by Bianchini and other companies.

 

"We follow all contractual and governmental obligations," said Bianchini, whose company operates in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul.

 

He did admit, however, that there may have been a failure in the screening of one shipment but this does not merit a ban.

 

"Obviously this is a concern as we have closed a lot of deals to sell to China, just as everyone else has in Rio Grande do Sul," he said.

 

China is the principal destination for Brazilian soybean exports.

 

Xinhua News Agency said the ban would go into effect immediately.

 

The news came on the same day Chinese traders and industry officials said local crushers might have cancelled up to 10 cargoes of South American soybeans this year, largely due to poor crushing margins and sanitary concerns.

 

"This ban looks like a classic ploy on the part of the Chinese to renegotiate some of the Brazil import contracts. I would expect this ban to be lifted sooner rather than later," said one Sao Paulo-based trader at a multinational trading firm.