President Lula’s statement during ceremony that certified Brazil as free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination

Well, my dear friends, today is a day to be thankful.

I always say that no one receives a gold medal in the Olympics by luck. The person either practices and prepares themselves, or they will leave before the Olympics end.

I would like to say that this is a day to be thankful for the efforts of the cattle producers in Brazil; that our Ministry of Agriculture, along with the Brazilian meatpacking plants, has worked for 60 years to be recognized as first-class citizens. I know that we have all learnt a lesson, Emmanuelle (Emmanuelle Soubeyran, director at the World Animal Health Organization).

It is one thing for us to work to please those within our own home. But it is another thing to try and win the world and work to please and convince people who often do not even know Brazil and its producers, and who are often competing with us and setting standards that we may find absurd — but we comply with them. So, today represents the recognition of a country that has, in Agribusiness and Livestock, one of its most important economic sectors. Working with Agribusiness in Brazil is no longer second-best; it has become the country’s main business.

So I believe that comrade Fávaro [Carlos Fávaro, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture] is right to say that today is a historical day due to the merit of each and every one of you, who have understood that, if we want to compete, we must be the best. We want to produce the best meat, we want to produce the healthiest meat, and we want to dispute the markets of the whole world with whoever is out there. This is why Brazil is possibly the world’s leading exporter of animal protein today.

And even those who do not want to buy our meat yet… I had a very rigorous discussion with the Prime Minister of Japan — I do not know if he has ever been to Brazil, if his technical team has been to Brazil, but I am certain of what happened in Japan, what happened in Vietnam, and it is what will happen in Korea and in every country that does not buy our meat yet. For a long time, Brazil was treated as an insignificant country — because there is something we have learned, Emmanuelle, and that we must continue to learn. No one respects those who do not respect themselves.

If we wish to be respected out in the world, if we wish to dispute markets, if we wish to gain more space, we must do the best that we can and always continue improving. There is no more space for chit-chat and tricks. And I can tell you this, Emmanuelle: in Brazil, people work very, very seriously, because they have learnt that it is good to be good; they have learnt that it is good to export quality meat and win markets that seemed to belong to others until very recently, where Brazil seemed not to stand a chance. We do not want to be great only in keeping the forests, in holding 12% of the world’s fresh waters, in having eight and a half million square kilometers, eight million of maritime borders, in our 16 million, eight hundred of dry borders, in our mineral riches.

We were born to be good at everything we want to do, and this here is a certificate. I believe that this certificate is recognition of the robustness and trustworthiness of our agriculture and livestock defense system. Even without vaccination, it has been proved that the foot-and-mouth disease does not circulate in Brazil, and it is up to us to not allow it to come back into our territories.

This achievement — and you know it because you have been working on it — is the result of 70 years of your work, of the efforts that have been coordinated, sometimes more closely, sometimes less, by the Ministry of Agriculture. And I want to thank comrade Fávaro for his dedication, engagement, his pilgrimage, and for working, traveling. With this diploma that we have earned, he has guaranteed his place at the Ministry until at least the beginning of next year, when he is bound to take leave to run again for some office, because people like to run for office.

Well, I am positive that what was done in Brazil can serve as an example for all of South America. We share borders with many countries and, thus, our problem consists in not only taking care of ourselves, but we also need to help our neighbors to take care of themselves, because if we do not do so and they end up having [the disease] we are at risk of having it too.

So this is very important, because Brazil has come to stay. I am extremely proud of what is going on in Brazil, extremely proud. I have been president before, and I know what the Brazilian presidents of the Republic used to suffer abroad; I remember when the president would not even be received by the lift operator at the IMF; I remember when no one wanted to talk to Brazil because they did not believe that Brazil was a serious country. And what you have done, what we are doing, is providing a demonstration that we are no better than anyone, but also that we are no worse than anyone.

At the least, we want to be equal to those who think they are better, and this is why we must work harder, produce more, care more: because there is no way back for Brazil. I dream that, very soon, this country will become the sixth-largest world economy; we have been the sixth-largest world economy, and I dream that we will grow more than the pessimists say we will. If last year we grew by 3.4%, even with Agriculture not growing as much as expected, I believe that the growth in Agriculture this year will allow us to think about growing a bit more.

I do not believe in those discourses that say early in the year that the Brazilian economy will grow by 0.8%, or 0.1%, or 0.5%. I cannot believe that there are statistical professionals who can be so precise as to predict and distinguish what will happen throughout the year. What makes things happen is work, work, work.

And our growth during this first trimester shows that we can surprise the world once again, growing above the average of the countries worldwide. And here is where we must be convinced that Brazil depends exclusively on us, on what we can discuss, on what we must negotiate, on what we must work on, and on what we need to invest. We will do it because we do not want to go back to being treated as an insignificant country, a small country.

You have been through this, you know how much suffering, you know the madness it was to see 70,000 tons of Brazilian meat in the Atlantic Ocean, heading for China, and China threatening not wanting to receive this meat, and the amount of phone calls we had to make to the Minister, to Xi Jinping, so that they did not allow that the meat was returned to Brazil.

And these things happen as an act of trust. When there is trust on the other part… Yesterday I spoke to President Macron — and President Macron has been standing against the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur — and I told him I will preside over Mercosur as of July 6. I am going to Argentina to assume the presidency of Mercosur.

And I told him that I will definitely conclude the agreement during the six months of my term. There is no reason not to conclude it, there is not. And I told him, Look, if there are any issues, if you have issues with the French agriculture producers, we will talk to them, we will hold meetings between your people from agriculture and ours.

Because, even though we produce wine, we do not want to create issues for your wine. Even though we produce good champagne in Rio Grande do Sul, we do not want to prohibit you from selling us champagne. Even though we produce high-quality dairy products, we do not want to create an issue for you to continue exporting to us.

I have always advocated that this commercial relationship is a two-way street. We sell, we buy, and there must be a balance. What cannot be explained is that a country the size of France, with France’s economy, and a country the size of Brazil, with Brazil’s economy, have a mere USD  9 billion commercial flow between them.

There is no explanation for this. With Vietnam, you know, where we have a very recent relationship, we already have almost BRL 13 billion in business. And if it works out, meat deals will increase. But we will have to buy catfish, no problem there. The agreement had been closed, and Fávaro starts arguing over a fish. We will take that little fish.

So this is it, I wish to thank the World Animal Health Organization; thank you, Emmanuelle: you can be sure, I will not read my speech — you can be sure that this recognition coming from you is extremely gratifying for Brazil, extremely gratifying. Brazil must currently have over 230 million cattle. We have a state — I do not know, Fávaro, if they are here — Mato Grosso, a state that has a total population of 3 million people and 33 million cattle.

So, this is extremely gratifying to us. It worked out; people insisted, people believed in it, and invested in it, and the government contributed, because the role of the government is to contribute. If the government does not get in the way, it is already a win, everyone. This is its role, and so I am extremely grateful for Fávaro’s work, and I think that you must understand the role that this Gaúcho from Mato Grosso plays in the relationship with you. We have more things, more space, more world to win.

I am going to hold a bilateral meeting; in fact I am holding three back-to-back bilateral meetings. We will close the BRICS, then I am having a bilateral with India, because we must organize a large-scale business event with India. Then, the next day, I am having a bilateral with Egypt, because we must organize a large-scale business event with business people from Egypt, you hear, Alban? (Ricardo Alban, president of the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry/CNI). I am saying this to you, Alban.

And then, on the day after Egypt, I will meet with Indonesia, which is another country with a population of over 200 million people, where we will have [a business event]. This will be unprecedented, Guinness World Records, three back-to-back bilateral meetings, followed by a meeting with over 40 countries that will be meeting at BRICS.

And in October, I will also go to ASEAN. For the first time, I am being invited to participate in the ASEAN meeting, which involves the 10 Asian countries, and I am going there to sell what we produce, to sell our meat — not bones— quality meat, to sell coffee, to sell soybeans, to sell corn, to sell cars, to sell everything we produce.

And to sell the need for us to take care of the environment. Everyone, this climate issue is no small deal. You can be certain that the world is going through a turning point. If we have the decency to at least follow the Paris Agreement, we will be free to continue producing what we want. Mr. Fávaro will deal with promoting the recovery of all degraded areas so that we do not have to cut down any more. But we must plant, and this is something that will help Brazil.

A kiss on the hearts of every one of you. Thank you to the World Animal Health Organization. Thank you very much.