- SAO PAULO, Brazil
(Reuters) - Brazil said on Wednesday that a U.S. Agriculture Department
inspector broke world trade protocol when he conducted unauthorized tests
on the spread of Asian rust fungus in the local soy crop and recommended
trade restrictions.
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- Brazil is the No. 2 soy producer after the United States,
and should take the top slot in the next few years. It ships relatively
little soy to the United States, but U.S. growers are outspoken in opposition
to imports of cheaper foreign soy.
-
- U.S. producers have requested the USDA ban Brazilian
soy imports, saying they could spread rust on the American crop, but the
USDA refused to restrict Brazilian soy shipments, saying there was little
risk of the fungus in shipments.
-
- The U.S Embassy said on Tuesday it sent the U.S. inspector
back to the United State after complaints over his actions.
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- Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said it had complained
to the U.S. Embassy after a U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) researcher on a routine visit to soy farms in Brazil ignored international
procedure and did not inform local officials of field tests he was conducting.
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- "The ministry has solicited clarification from Aphis,
through the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, on the real objectives of the visit
of the researcher in Brazil," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
-
- In May, Brazil granted APHIS' Hossein El-Nashaar authorization
to tour soy farms and crushing plants in the northeast state of Bahia with
local officials to ensure that a load of 70,000 tonnes of soy meal destined
for the United States was free of Asian rust fungus.
-
- "This was the sole principal objective of the visit
of the researcher to Barreiras, (Bahia)," said the ministry.
-
- A source at the ministry said El-Nashaar was collecting
spore samples of the highly contagious Phakopsora pachiyrhizi, or Asian
rust fungus, while in Bahia without informing Brazilian officials.
-
- The ministry said El-Nashaar surprised his local counterparts
on Aug. 11 when he met with them and recommended quarantine measures for
Brazilian soy shipments to the United States in response to the local spread
of rust.
-
- After the Agriculture Ministry informed the U.S. Embassy
of El-Nashaar's actions, the embassy "explained that the visit had
the sole objective of certifying the soy meal shipment and to obtain greater
scientific information about Asian rust."
-
- "The embassy dismissed the possibility that such
a visit would have the purpose of carrying out a risk analysis," said
the ministry statement.
-
- The ministry said such restrictions on agricultural trade
recommended by El-Nashaar would require from the concerned country a formal
request for a "risk analysis" which the United States never made.
-
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