June 22, 2009
Sao Paulo to launch beef cattle quality seal
Brazil's Sao Paulo Agriculture Secretariat will launch the Sao Paulo Beef Cattle Quality Seal as part of the state's Quality System for Agricultural and Agroindustrial Products aimed at creating a differentiated range of products for future certification.
The certification is expected to strengthen the state's Zero Sanitation Risk programme and enable the introduction of new quality seals in sectors such as dairy.
Seals have already been created in Sao Paulo for hogs and other agricultural produce, and two hog farms have been certified.
The voluntary seal is a part of a farm products and services quality programme that aims to strengthen and create greater competitiveness for Sao Paulo products to help specific sectors, to exploit market niches and to meet consumer demand with a higher-quality product, and to guarantee revenue for farmers and agribusiness, according to researchers at the Agricultural Economy Institute (IEA-Apta).
This indicates that Sao Paulo will be operating as food quality certification manager by using its structure, outsourced technical services and created seals to guarantee differentiated and superior quality, the researchers said, adding that they expect the seal to result in Sao Paulo consumers opting for product from Sao Paulo state.
