The life of Brazilian exporters is increasingly troubled by the loss of competitiveness in the international market. The appreciation of the real in recent months has reduced the amount of freight shipped abroad. For pork producers - a segment in which Brazil is the world’s fourth largest exporter - the fall in international prices and exports practically at a standstill since 2005 exacerbate the current scenario. According to Pedro de Camargo Neto, president of the Brazilian Pork Producers and Exporters Association (Abipecs), the organization’s work is focused on opening new markets and the hope that Mercosur will actually start working.

Among the South American countries, only Argentina purchases reasonable amounts of Brazilian pork. In 2009, the "brothers" occupied fifth place among the leading buyers from Brazil - behind Russia, Hong Kong, Ukraine and Angola - at 28.57 thousand tons. However, the mere existence of Mercosur doesn’t help exporters at all, believes Camargo Neto. "Mercosur is facing an existential crisis. The region is promising, but Mercosur as an institution, currently, can’t be taken seriously."

Opening markets still closed to Brazil, like Japan and South Korea, may also help raise the international price of Brazilian meat. According to the president of Abipecs, it’s not possible to do business with these countries basically because of the animal sanitation factor. Many other nations still do not trust the sanitary treatment given the domestic production and the Federal Government, says Camargo Neto, must strive to reverse the situation. "Achieving that, exports may triple."