Deputy Minister of Agricultural for Commercial and Agricultural Industries Ali Akbar Mehrfard made the remarks at a meeting with a visiting Brazilian delegation headed by, Eumar Novacki, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of the South American country.

While referring to age-old ties between Iran and Brazil and political will of both sides to bolster ties, Mehrfard stressed the need tackle banking restrictions in order to develop and facilitate trade of agricultural products.

He later stated that Iranian pistachios enjoyed an outstanding quality asserting “volume of Iran’s saffron production counts for 95% of the global output as well as that the country ranks second and third in dates and raisings production in the world.” The official urged the Brazilian side to increase export of these products from Iran.

Mehrfard voiced the country’s readiness to welcome Brazilian investors in food and packaging industries. Iran’s deputy agriculture minister called for reduction and elimination of duties and tariffs on exports of Iranian agricultural products. He also called for a reduction in bureaucracy and administrative formalities in Iran’s agricultural exports.

Referring to supply of a portion of Iran’s demand for meat by the South American country, he said “Brazil’s continuous efforts to increase level of supervision, control and promotion of health in meat production units and slaughterhouses help to increase our confidence in the country.”

Also at the meeting, Brazil’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Eumar Novacki emphasized the need to develop and improve relations between the two countries saying “in Brazil, in order to produce healthy meat, health inspections and strong control are carried out in units for production of red meat and slaughterhouses by the Ministry of Agriculture and manufacturing companies.”

Novacki pointed to holding of an Agriculture Advisory Committee on November 21 and 22 this year in Brazil acknowledging that the committee will explore the means to expand trade in health, vegetable and animal welfare arenas.

On tariffs and export duties related to Iran’s agricultural goods, he explained that these issues can also be raised and reviewed at the Agriculture Advisory Committee.

The visiting official underscored that his country was interested in addressing bank issues between Tehran and Brasilia to develop cooperation between the two countries as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he suggested holding a seminar on trade talks between the two countries on the sidelines of the Agricultural Advisory Committee in Brazil.

Eumar Novacki is leading a Brazilian mission to Tehran, Iran, from September 11 (Monday) to 13 (Wednesday). The mission aims to deepen trade relations between the two countries and attract country investments to Brazilian agribusiness sectors.

The agenda includes bilateral meetings with government officials. Separate meetings have been scheduled with Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade and President of the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization, Mojtaba Khosrowtaj, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and member of the Jihad Esteghlal Company, Arzhang Javadi.

The program includes a business roundtable with participation of Brazilian representatives from the beef, soybean, corn, biodiesel and ethanol, sugar and fish sectors. They will introduce prospective buyers and investors, their product portfolios and fundraising projects.

In addition to Executive Secretary Eumar Novacki, the visiting delegation comprises Director of International Agribusiness Promotion, Evaldo da Silva Júnior, and the Trade Promotion Coordinator, Christyanne Kasper.

Fourth in the ranking of Brazilian agricultural trade exports, Iran imported $ 2.2 billion in 2016. From January to July this year, Iran’s purchases of corn, soybeans, beef, and sugar totaled US $ 1.5 billion.