The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) and the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for close cooperation in soyabean oil supply to India.

BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA, said both the associations have agreed to make the best efforts to organise periodic meetings between importers from India and exporters from Brazil, involving ABIOVE and SEA as moderators from their respective sides.

He said the agreement helps enable a common forum and platform to facilitate the joint interaction of both institutions under the governmental spheres of both countries and to promote public-private partnerships of mutual interest towards economic integration between the two countries in the oilseeds sectors, through the reduction of bilateral and multilateral trade barriers on oilseeds, oilseed products and edible oils.

Communication exchange

Both associations have agreed to exchange periodic newsletters, articles, and relevant information from both sides, to help the associations stay as informed as possible about production numbers, capacity and opportunities that can be communicated to their respective associates and members.

The agreement aims at cooperating with the supply, use, and trade of soyabean, soyameal and soyabean oil, as well as other oilseeds and their derivatives, to enhance the interests of producers, processors, and consumers.

He said the MoU aims at promoting the exchange of technology for the production of oilseed planting material to increase agricultural productivity and to encourage and foster technical and scientific cooperation in the area of oilmeals and vegetable edible oils in the best interest of both institutions.

Mehta said India is the largest importer of edible oil in the world and imports nearly 15-16 million tonnes (mt) of various edible oils, including 3.5-4 mt of soyabean oil, mainly from Latin America. Brazil is one of the major suppliers of soyabean oil to India. In 2022, Brazil exported 1.4 mt soyabean oil to India. In the first nine months of 2023, it supplied 1.2 mt of soyabean oil to India to bridge the gap between demand and supply, he said.

Ajay Jhunjhunwala, President of SEA, and Andre Meloni Nassar, President of ABIOVE, signed an MoU in the presence of Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Favaro, in New Delhi recently.

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