Brazilian meat lobby says trade talks with Indonesia hinge on halal WTO compliance

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil should only begin free trade talks with Indonesia if it adopts recommendations made by a World Trade Organization panel in 2017 after a dispute over halal chicken, Brazil’s meat lobby ABPA said in a letter sent to three government ministries.

“We don’t oppose a free trade agreement with Indonesia,” Ricardo Santin, head of ABPA, said on Monday with reference to the letter sent to the ministries of foreign relations, economy and agriculture on January 26th. He said there should be “no border for food”.

Brazil, the world’s largest halal chicken exporter, requested WTO consultations with Indonesia in 2014 concerning measures blocking its access to that market.

Brazil won the dispute, but Indonesia requested “a reasonable period of time” to adopt its recommendations and in December last year appealed to the WTO’s appellate body, further delaying the prospect of the recommendations being adopted.

ABPA has said Indonesia’s chicken industry would benefit from more competition. Indonesians eat almost 12 kilos per person per year, about one fourth of consumption by Brazilians, and domestic chicken prices are high, it said.

Welber Barral, legal counsel to ABPA, said Indonesia is on a list of nations, published by the government in 2021, with which Brazil aims to discuss free trade.

“Compliance with multilateral obligations is an element to be considered in the bilateral relationship of any country with Brazil and Mercosur,” Barral said.