Last week, Brazilian minister of agriculture Blairo Maggi led an extensive delegation to Belgium, in part to discuss Brazilian market access for Belgian pears.
During a breakfast meeting in Brussels, Marc Evrard, commercial director of Belgische Fruitveiling (BFV), Belgium’s largest topfruit cooperative, pleaded the case for Conference pears.
During the meeting, Evrard handed over a box of BFV's Truval-branded pears to minister Blairo Maggi and Odilson Silva, secretary of agribusiness international relations to the minister of agriculture.
“BFV is anticipating market access shortly,” said Evrard, who was central to the opening-up of markets in India and China for Belgian pears.
The sizeable Brazilian market is seen by Belgian exporters as an ideal replacement for Russia, which has remained closed since summer 2014.
