Highly experienced lawyers dedicated to supporting the international fresh produce sector have announced the start of a new joint venture between practitioners in the Netherlands and Brazil aimed at providing legal services to fruit exporters, importers and investors between Europe and Brazil.
In the first such collaboration of its kind, lawyers from Brazil and the Netherlands will be working together to provide exporters, importers and investors with advice and support covering everything from reducing credit exposure through to claims handling and debt collection, as well as joint ventures and business acquisitions.
Amsterdam-based lawyer Jan van de Ven, who has over a decade’s experience working with fruit exporters across Europe, Latin America, the US and South Africa, and now heads ABLD.co, a law firm specialising in the fresh produce sector, has announced an agreement with Alberto Rodrigues, a lawyer from north-east Brazil with a background working with fruit exporters.
Van de Ven said: “We requested (and received) authorisation from the Bar Association that allows us to set up a collaboration between our firms that will enable us to provide integrated legal services to exporters, importers and investors from Europe and Brazil.
“This will be the first joint venture between lawyers in Brazil and the Netherlands who both have extensive experience in the fresh produce sector,' he continued. 'In a high value, and often low margin industry such as fresh fruit exports, the reality of life is that every once in a while issues occur between exporter and importer that need to be resolved. As experienced lawyers with intimate industry experience, we will be well positioned to advance the interests of our clients, both in Europe and Brazil.”
Rodrigues added: “Brazil’s north east offers interesting opportunities for investment in agriculture and food production. Thanks to the tax treaty between the Netherlands and Brazil, and a bilateral treaty that offers investment protection, the Netherlands provides an attractive hub to channel such investments in Brazil. Our joint venture will be well placed to assist international investors looking to profit from investments in agriculture and food production in Brazil’s north east.”
Van de Ven and Rodrigues will provide a range of legal services to fruit exporters, importers and investors to help navigate potential legal pitfalls in Europe and Brazil, ranging from as assistance with claims handling and debt collection, to negotiating joint ventures and foreign investment contracts.
