The president of Embrapa, Sebastião Barbosa, and the minister of Agriculture of Paraguay, Denis Lichi, met on Friday (March 15), with the aim of discussing new strategies for cooperation and partnership between the two countries. The visit is part of a series of meetings of the foreign representative in Brazil, which included one with the Brazilian minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Tereza Cristina, also on March 15. Lichi was accompanied by the president of the Paraguayan Institute of Agrarian Technology (IPTA), Edgar Esteche. The manager of International Strategic Relations (GREI) of Embrapa's Secretariat of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs (Sire), Eliana Valéria Covolan, was responsible for coordinating the review and the reformulation of the terms of the bilateral memorandum of understanding, and the beginning of a work plan, based on Brazilian and Paraguayan interests. The first Basic Agreement for Technical Cooperation between the two governments was signed in October 1987 and enacted in 1991, followed by a Memorandum of Understanding between IPTA and Embrapa (2011 to 2016), which should be resumed, and by an Interinstitutional Cooperation agreement between the National University of Asunción (UNA) and Embrapa (2013 to 2023). The projects in Paraguay with Embrapa's participation include technical cooperation in partnership with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the cotton sector in Paraguay, in which IPTA and the National Plant Health and Seed Quality Service (Senave) also participate. For the president of Embrapa, Sebastião Barbosa, the renewal of the agreement with Paraguay's research institutions is an initiative that strengthens the Brazilian government's concern with the development of productivity and food quality. "Embrapa has been requested to broaden special attention to smallholders", he commented, pointing out the similarities between the agricultural realities of the two countries. The minister of Agriculture of Paraguay assessed that the meeting was very positive. "We are going to exchange experiences, analyze situations our countries have in common, and find solutions for very similar problems", he said. "With the cooperation agreement, it will be possible to share knowledge and results to the benefit of the agricultural sector". Ministerial meeting On the same day, the Paraguayan minister of Agriculture met with the Brazilian minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, with the goal of building a common agenda between both countries. The main points of meeting's order of business included improving the flow of approvals for imports in the borders between the two countries, which is currently a point of divergences in the documentation for the entry of products and suffers from a lack of employees for inspection, especially regarding the entrance of Paraguayan rice in Brazil. Another issue they addressed was the smuggling of agrochemicals, which should result in a special work agenda for joint integrated action to fight such irregularities. Minister Tereza Cristina asked her counterpart to have Paraguay adopt sanitary breaks (period when the land is not cultivated) in soybean crops so as to control Asian rust. Translation: Mariana Medeiros