I want my Pão de Queijo

How Brazil has been targeted by international trade barriers?

There are many things I love with Brazil; like the people, the nature, the weather, football, samba, music….and Pão de queijo.

Pão de queijo, the traditional, gluten-free Brazilian chewy cheese roll, has been making waves in New York City. A number of restaurants serving this signature food from the state of Minas Gerais have popped up over the past few years.

In the European Union, however, they are banned. Labeled as a dairy product, pão de queijo can’t be exported to the EU – even though, by the group’s own rules, the fact that the product contains only 20 percent of milk derivatives should prevent pão de queijo from being tagged as dairy.

This is a great tragedy – not only since it is one of my personal favourite food products in the world, but also since it is exactly the type of national unique products should shape the basis of an increased Brazilian in international trade and participataion in te global supply chainz

That is just one of the 20 trade barriers identified by Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry (CNI) – 17 of which have been imposed by members of the G-20, the group of the world’s 19 biggest economies plus the European Union. CNI sponsored and supported our work with AEO Brazil 2015-2018.

According to data from Fundação Getulio Vargas, the country’s leading think tank, Brazil loses around 14 percent of its exports due to trade barriers and sanitary controls – amounting to USD 30.5 billion in 2017 alone. Some of the country’s main exports, such as sugar, meat, orange juice, and electronics, are the main targets.

While the European Union has imposed restrictions on Brazilian meat after a series of sanitary scandals, some of the restrictions smack of pure protectionism, such as the pão de queijo example.

Let’s hope that that this will change in the near future, even though emerging and increasing trade war measures hangs over us as rain clouds for the moment.

I want to start my days with Pão de queijo, also whem I am not in Brazil – but home in Europe.