Challenges&Opportunities for Amazon Sociobioeconomy Products in EU Markets

Between 2017 and 2019, companies in the Brazilian Amazon exported forest-compatible products worth $298 million derived from non-timber forest resources, agroforestry systems, tropical fishing, aquaculture, and horticulture. This sum represents only 0.17% of the global market for these products, which exceeds $176 billion annually (Coslovsky, Salo. 2021).

What is the worth of products that help keep the forest standing? What are the bottlenecks within Brazil and in international markets? How could EU stakeholders contribute to creating sustainable value chains for those products? The speakers and the public will delve into these questions, while tasting delicacies from the Amazon. On the menu, the amazing stories of products such as açaí, cumaru, camu-camu, tapioca, tucupi, licuri, Brazil nuts cocoa and many others!

By sociobioeconomy products we refer, in particular, to products from the Amazon forest, as well as other Brazilian Biomes, produced by more than 30,000 small producers organized in cooperatives, associations and small and medium-sized companies. These products bring together ecological biodiversity, and the social, cultural and ethnic diversity of the producers involved in the production chains.

With the Support of ApexBrasil

Participation is free.

Simultaneous interpretation Portuguese - English will be available.

Agenda (draft)

9:00 Registration

9:15 Welcome by Ambassador João Mendes Pereira, Ambassador Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva and Jorge Viana (President of ApexBrasil)

1st session 9:30 Bioeconomy, international trade and sustainable value chains – are these convergent objectives? What are the bottlenecks?

Moderator Alexandre Goulart (Institute Sustainable Connections - Conexus)

i) Patrícia Gomes (Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification - IMAFLORA) Origens Brasil project: connecting companies and consumers to sustainable production chains in protected areas in the Amazon

ii) Adevaldo Dias (Brazilian National Council of Extractivists Populations - CNS and Chico Mendes Memorial) Rubber Value Chain and Conservation of the Amazon

iii) Paulo Reis (Association of Amazon Socio-Bioeconomy Businesses - ASSOBIO) Bringing together Amazon Sociobioeconomy Businesses

iv) Ricardo Gomes (Arapyaú Institute) Brazilian cocoa as a reference for the bioeconomy

v) Rafael Barbieri (Senior Economist of World Resources Institute - WRI Brasil) New Economy for the Brazilian Amazon

11:00 Coffee Break

2nd session 11:30 Putting products on the EU market - Bioeconomy, Food Safety, Novel Foods and Agri-Trade Policy in the EU

i) Chris Dowes (COLEAD, AGRINFO) The new EU Novel Foods Regulation: the opportunities and challenges for trade in traditional forest products

ii) Nilton Morais (Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture - MAPA) The importance of Food Safety

iii) Thaís dos Santos (Madame Brésil) From the forest to Haute Cuisine: what happens along the way?

iv) Cristiano Vilela (Center for Cocoa Innovation) The role of innovation to open new markets

v) Mayra Souza (Director at International Flavors & Fragances)The Intersection of Bioeconomy and Trade Policy

12:30 Wrap up by the Moderator and closing remarks

Reception with products from the Amazon and partners

*photo by Araquém Alcântara