Brazil’s Covid sparks fear in neighboring countries and leads to truck block

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The slow pace of vaccination against covid-19 coupled with the picture of more than 370,000 deaths and the news of variants of the virus circulating in Brazil resulted in new restrictions on Brazilian exports by countries like Argentina and Chile.

These countries require truckers to present negative tests for the disease at the border. The measure mostly affects Brazilian exports of manufactured goods, which mainly use highways to reach their South American destinations. In Brazilian shipments to Argentina, more than half are transported by trucks.

In a statement, the Brazilian government says that it has opened negotiations with neighboring countries to prevent blocking truckers who fail to present the Covid-19 test result. The risk of interrupting the flow of cargo to countries in the region led the government to organize actions among the ministries of Infrastructure, Health and Foreign Affairs, and the Civil House, responsible for coordination.

Representatives of the cargo transportation sector recognize the concern and importance of health measures, but urge the government to negotiate more flexible requirements. In addition to the costs with the Covid test, which should be incorporated into the logistics chain and impact the price of the exported product, they point out, there is also the cost of waiting for the test result, which delays by one to four days the release for entering the country.

The cost is calculated at R$1 thousand per day per vehicle, according to Danilo Guedes, vice president for international transport of the National Association of Cargo Transport and Logistics (NTC&Logística). In the border cities of Uruguaiana and São Borja alone, he says, an average of 700 trucks pass through daily.

The requirement of the test by South American countries may create an industry to perform the exam and an unexpected disbursement of about R$1.5 million per week for Brazilian companies, says Sônia Rotondo, consultant of the sector and former director of the NTC&Logística.

Argentina is Brazil’s third largest trading partner. In 2020, Argentines absorbed US$8.49 billion in Brazilian exports, 52.4% of that shipped by road. To Chile, US$3.85 billion were exported, 45.2% by road.

Welber Barral, foreign trade strategist at Ourinvest, says that the measure is hardly contestable, for being in the context of the pandemic, in which several countries in the world impose restrictions on Brazilian travelers.

Former secretary of foreign trade, Barral assesses that there is little chance of negotiation, given the severity of the disease indicators in Brazil. “There are no alternatives. Either we comply with the requirements or we stop exporting,” says José Augusto de Castro, president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB).

In March, South American countries like Peru, Argentina, Paraguay Bolivia and Colombia had already identified the Brazilian P.1 variant circulating in regions of their respective countries. For some local authorities, the strain would be behind the outbreak of Covid-19 cases and therefore could demand tougher restrictions against Brazilian travelers.

The Argentinean measure that requires the presentation of a negative RT-PCR test started to be demanded since the 14th, reminds Jean Vicente Fresinghelli Brandão, operations supervisor of the transportation company Veloce in São Borja, a city that borders the Argentinean city of Santo Tomé.

As the result of the requested test only comes out the next day, the requirement demands at least one more day of waiting for the trucker to be allowed to enter Argentine territory.

If the trucker arrives at the border on Friday after noon, explains the supervisor, the test can only be done on the following Monday, with entry clearance on Tuesday, which extends the wait to four days. “We understand the need for the test. Something that could make it easier is the possibility of the rapid test, which would require less time and has a lower cost,” says Brandão. According to him, Veloce’s trucks make at least 500 trips a month to Argentina and Chile, transporting mainly auto parts, foodstuffs and personal hygiene products.

Castro, from AEB, points out that manufactured products tend to be the most affected, since the South American markets are large buyers of goods from the Brazilian manufacturing industry. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, of the shipments to Argentina by road in 2020, parts and accessories for cars and vehicles, tractors and harvesting machines were among the most important items.

For Chile, under the same criteria, the list includes beef and pork, in addition to tractors, bodies and chassis with engines for vehicles. The government data also show that 52.2% of Brazilian car shipments for passengers in 2020 had Argentina as the destination. Considering vehicle parts and pieces, the share was 43.7%.

Source: Valor