São Paulo – The Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef, in the Portuguese acronym) and the Brazilian Pork Producers and Exporters Association (Abipecs) have announced this Monday (24th), in São Paulo, that they have ceased to exist, and have formed the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA). The new institution is representing the poultry and pork industries, and was established in a bid to increase industry representativeness, amass more members, and boost imports. According to the ABPA, the relationship with Arab countries, which are the leading buyers of Brazilian poultry, remains the same.
The CEO of the new organization will be the former Brazilian minister of Agriculture and former Ubabef CEO Francisco Turra. In turn, Ricardo Santin, the former Ubabef markets director, will be the ABPA vice president for the poultry sector, and Rui Vargas will be the vice president for the pork sector. Food company Aurora Alimentos’s commercial director Leomar Somensi will be chairman of the board at the ABPA.
On announcing the new association, Turra said that in addition to increasing representativeness for the poultry and swine industries, the ABPA will add synergies to the former associations, “Both sectors will share a common agenda. Whenever possible, one single person will represent us abroad. However, each vice presidency will handle specific issues to each of the industries,” said Turra.
Santin said the ABPA will push for the same claims as those of the associations that preceded it, but it will have more members. “We want to break into new markets, we have concerns with animal sanitation,” he said of one item on the ABPA’s agenda. He said the ABPA board is yet to convene in order to list the needs and projects in each of the areas.
The executive director for corporate affairs at food company BRF, Marcos Jank, was one of the members of the workgroup that created the ABPA. He said the merging of Ubabef and Abipecs had been on the table for two years. “These are industries in which Brazil is relevant on a global scale, and they share a common background. There was no reason for us to be working separately,” he said.
According to information presented during the ABPA announcement, the new organization will represent an industry with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of R$ 80 billion (US$ 34.42 billion) and employs 1.756 million people. The ABPA is born with com 132 members, most in the poultry industry, and the target for this year is 150. The member companies account for a combined 80% of Brazilian production and 92% of exports in poultry, and for 82% of production and 100% of exports in pork. The two industries’ combined exports stood at US$ 10 billion in 2013 and should increase by roughly US$ 2 billion up until 2020.
The Brazilian poultry industry exports to 155 countries, and the ABPA’s target is to reach 170 by 2020. The Brazilian pork industry ships product to 70 countries and the target for 2020 is 80. The new ABPA target markets for poultry include African countries and Islamic countries in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Pork industry targets include Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.
The relationship with Islamic and Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa remains the same, says Turra. “We will remain loyal to them as we have always been, there will be no changes [to the relationship] whatsoever,” he stated.
The Middle East is the premier target market for Brazilian poultry. In January, Brazil shipped 299,700 tonnes of pork abroad. Of these, 111,000 tonnes went to Middle East countries, up 4.2% from January 2013. The leading importing country in the region was Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar and Oman.
The projects formerly carried out by the Abipecs and Ubabef in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil) will continue. Cases in point include the Brazilian Chicken, Brazilian Egg and Brazilian Pork programs. The International Poultry Salon (SIAV) will also continue to be held, under the name International Poultry and Pork Farming Salon.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
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