MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro, WTO chief agree on Brazil's role as food supplier

We need agricultural powers to take a step forward, Okonjo-Iweala stressed

President Jair Bolsonaro Monday acknowledged Brazil's role amid increasing global food insecurity as he met with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria in Brasilia.

Bolsonaro highlighted the importance of trade in agricultural products and inputs, such as fertilizers, to ensure global food security and hoped the upcoming 12th WTO Ministerial Meeting would bring on concrete results.

Also present at the meeting was Brazil's Foreign Minister Carlos França, who pointed out that the WTO has the mission, at this moment, to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine on international food production and distribution chains.

Brazil is committed to the ministerial meeting resulting in progress in the negotiations of the four main axes: trade and health, agriculture, fishery subsidies, and WTO reform.

The WTO Director-General also gave a lecture at the Instituto Rio Branco and met with parliamentarians from the Agriculture and Livestock Parliamentary Front (FPA) and agribusiness representatives.

The visiting official is due Tuesday in São Paulo, where she will meet with representatives of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp). She will also participate in a meeting with women entrepreneurs.

After meeting with Bolsonaro, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted Brazil's “important role” in combating the global food crisis, aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic and, in recent months, by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“We all know the situation we are in, in the midst of the war in Ukraine and how that has impacted food prices in several countries around the world,” Okonjo-Iweala said at a press conference in Brasilia.

Okonjo-Iweala is discussing various issues with local officials ahead of the 12th Ministerial Meeting to be held in June.

“Prices have soared, so we need those countries that are agricultural powers” to “take a step forward and be able to insert more in the international market,” she stressed.