The discomfort caused by the unfounded statements made by the president of Carrefour in France, Alexandre Bompard, about meat produced in Brazil has already been overcome, both from a business point of view and among governments, following the apology expressed by the executive of the French group. The assessment is from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, who participated, this Wednesday (27), in the program Good morning, Ministerproduced by Brazilian Communication Company (EBC).
Last week, Bompard said that meat produced in Brazil would not respect the standards established by France and that, therefore, it would no longer sell Mercosur meat in its markets in that country. The statement resulted in criticism expressed by several Brazilian producers, who began a movement to boycott the supply of proteins to Carrefour markets in Brazil. Given the repercussions, Bompard released a retraction note yesterday (26)which highlights the good quality of Brazilian products.
During the interview with Good morning, Minister, Mauro Vieira said that the problem involves, a priori, companies, and that the federal government’s action was to defend the quality of Brazilian products. “It arose from a demonstration by the global president of a large French supermarket chain that has, outside of France, its largest operating platform in Brazil. I think he must have done this for domestic and internal political reasons”, said the minister.
“It was the manifestation of a private company, and governments don’t get involved in that. What we did was make a note. Yesterday there was a second note clarifying the situation. The letter of retraction from the president of this company was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture. Apparently he apologized. It recognized the health and taste quality of Brazilian products. So I think this is already an answer; a good answer to this question between companies”, he added.
In Mauro Vieira’s assessment, the businessman’s retraction put an end to the problem. “From the government’s point of view, there was no major problem. And, from a business point of view, [o problema] is over, with him talking about the quality of Brazilian products”, he said.
He recalled that Brazilian meat is exported to more than 140 destinations, complying with all health requirements and quality control issues in all countries. “Including very demanding markets, such as the European Union, Japan, the United States and China”.
