Brazilia, Brazil
August 28, 2007
Source:
USDA/FAS GAIN Report BR
7627
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200708/146292255.pdf
Report Highlights
Representatives from the
main producer associations in the U.S., Brazil, and
Argentina formed the International Soybean Growers Alliance
(ISGA) last week in Mato Grosso. The group aspires to work
together in several areas and anticipate that a collective
voice will increase their effectiveness in Marketing,
resolving technical barriers to trade, and improving their
environmental image. This is a major step forward in
building cooperation between the
three countries’ soybean industries.
Soybean producers from the US,
Brazil, and Argentina signed an agreement to form the
International Soybean Growers’ Alliance (ISGA) on August 23 at
the Bienal Annual Agricultural Conference in Cuiabá, Mato
Grosso. The ISGA is a component of the Global Grower Development
Agreements signed between the North and South American Soybean
Producer organizations in 2006. The ISGA is a major step forward
in building cooperation among competitive industry
organizations. Disputes regarding agricultural subsidies and
royalties for Roundup Ready Soybean Seed have made a dialogue
between the countries difficult in recent years.
These countries are responsible
for more than 80% of global soybean production. Executives
expect to integrate Paraguay and tentatively other
soybean-producing countries into the alliance as well. IGSA is a
conglomeration of the major producer associations: American
Soybean Association International Marketing (ASAIM), US Soybean
Export Council (USSEC), the United Soybean Board (USB), Soybean
Producers Association of Mato Grosso (APROSOJA), and the Soybean
Chain Association of Argentina (ACSOJA). The group aspires to
work together in several areas and anticipates that a collective
voice will increase their effectiveness in Marketing, resolving
technical barriers to trade, and improving their environmental
image.
ISGA plans to make the Indian
market its first focus, where it plans to jointly promote the
utilization of domestically-produced soybean meal. Indians’
consumption of poultry meat and milk has a potential to grow
exponentially. The US has worked in the Indian market for over a
decade. As a result of recent cooperation between the US and
Brazilian soybean industries, the Brazilian government has
agreed to contribute $50,000 to marketing efforts in India.
According to the group, the new organization will give soybean
producers more
influence in the global soybean-consuming industries along with
trading companies and multinationals that use soybeans as a
major input. In July of 2006, a moratorium was signed in Brazil
by the soybean industry without buy-in from Brazilian soybean
producers forbidding sourcing soybeans from the legal Amazon.
During last week’s meetings, a working group was also created to
define criteria for sustainability of soybean production that
may be adopted at the international level. The group’s next
meeting will be held in Buenos Aires, where they will begin to
work out the objectives that were put on paper in Brazil.
Original report:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200708/146292255.pdf
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