International Biofuels Forum to be launched by Brazil, EU, US, South Africa, India and China

On Friday, Brazil, the European Union, the United States, South Africa, China and India will formally establish the 'International Biofuels Forum'. The idea is to create common norms and standards for bioenergy products, especially ethanol, to consolidate and facilitate world trade in the rapidly growing sector. The initiative behind the new international organisation, the offices of which will be based at the United Nations (UN) in New York, was taken by Brazil, the world's largest biofuels producer.

Information supplied by the Brazilian Foreign Office and obtained by the ANBA shows that Brazil is ahead of this project, sponsoring the idea of making the main producers and consumers of biofuels join forces and create common technical norms for the sector as well as production, transport and storage standards, among other topics. With this, the countries participating hope to transform products like ethanol and biodiesel into 'energy products', instead of 'agricultural commodities', as they are currently labeled under WTO classifications. The Brazilian government has been analysing the consequences of this transformation for a while (earlier post).

To achieve this aim, the Forum, which will last one year, is going to establish two working groups: (1) a task force turned to the exchange of information about scientific and technological advances, and (2) a group to discuss standards and norms for the sector, including infrastructure, logistics and foreign trade. The groups, according to the Ministry, are going to operate in the organization of the International Biofuels Conference, scheduled to take place in Brazil in 2008:
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In the evaluation of the government of Brazil, the expansion of the use of biofuels is going to cause partial replacement of oil derivatives, reduce emissions of polluting gas, as well as attract investment to the productive chain.

According to the Ministry, clearer international norms, are going to provide incentives to the private sector in Brazil and in other countries. Apart from that, the diffusion and increase of production is going to generate clear economy of scale and, consequently, a reduction of cost.

To the government of Brazil, the production of biofuels is an important vector for development. In Brazil, the sugar and alcohol sector has a turnover of around 40 billion Reais (€14.2/US$18.8 billion) a year and generates 1 million direct jobs, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Production of biodiesel in commercial scale is only beginning in the country and the government has crafted policies that ensure the biodiesel program will benefit more and more small producers of oleaginous plants, like castor seeds, for example (earlier post).

Brazil and the United States, which are the two main international producers of ethanol, have been mouthing their intention of transforming alcohol into a great international commodity. This will be the main theme of the meeting that presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and George W. Bush are going to have on March 09, in São Paulo. The Brazilian Ministry evaluates that the Forum and dialogue about the sector between Brazil and the US are not mutually excluding, but complementary initiatives.