Emater launches Seal and increases consumer confidence in product quality
The Government of Pará highlights the value of traceability of sustainable products on the table of the people of Pará
The Government of Pará, through the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Pará (Emater-Pará), launched the Emater Seal Pará, on the morning of this Friday (21), at Agri Zone (Arena Agri Talks), at Embrapa, during the COP 30 (30th World Conference on Climate Change) program in Belém.
During the ceremony, organic agroecological farmer Jilvana Lunelli, from Brasil Novo, was the first to receive the seal for her product. For her, the act was a historic milestone of the Government of Pará in recognizing and valuing family farmers throughout the state, who from now on will have greater reliability and quality in the products that reach the table.
“Emater has been part of my life since I was four years old. So, for me, it is a moment of great emotion to be the first farmer to receive this seal. Having the seal on my products represents belonging, traceability, and it was the Emater technicians who helped me in this process. Being part of this is social justice because talking about family farmers in the state of Pará and in Brazil means talking about protecting forests, rivers, protecting the environment, and putting quality products on the people's table,” she said.
Visibility and quality - For Karine Sarraf, deputy supervisor of the Regional Office of the Islands of Emater-Pará, the launch of the Emater Seal is a moment of extreme importance because it demonstrates how the work of extensionists and technical assistance is fundamental to give greater visibility to family farmers.
“The presence of our seal on a product will give credibility to the origin of that product that reaches the consumer's table. It is an important historic moment for us at Emater and especially for the family farmers we serve because they are responsible for the product that our beneficiaries have, with maximum quality services and within the required technical standards,” said Karine.
She also noted that "the seal will promote development in the countryside, which helps keep families within their productive units and will bring a social appeal in favor of those who have a smaller scale of production and cannot compete with large companies in the formal market.”
For the president of the Federation of Family Agriculture Workers of the State of Pará (FETAGRI-PA), José Carlos Reis, the initiative reinforces the sustainability of those who produce in the countryside, as one of the main responsible parties for the quality of the product purchased by the consumer.
“I believe this seal will give visibility to family agriculture products, so they are recognized. At the moment the consumer buys it, they will know the entire origin of this product, from the territory, among other factors. People will know that the product on their table is a quality product, made without the use of pesticides,” he stated.
Traceability - The seal, Emater emphasizes, is a visual identity inscribed on labels of products made by family farmers from Pará assisted by the state public technical assistance agency. The goal is to guarantee the consumer a product from a rural producer, assisted by Emater, free of charge and with technical quality.
“The importance of the seal lies in the emphasis given to the technical assistance and rural extension services developed by Emater-Pará and at the same time promotes the visibility of a federal public policy, to which we are linked, guaranteeing free support services to family farmers, in our case, here in the state of Pará, in all 144 municipalities,” explained Cristiane Corrêa, technical coordinator (Cotec) of Emater-Pará.
Four categories - The Emater Seal will be voluntary and free for any beneficiaries or organizations/associations/cooperatives assisted and registered by the public company and listed in the Annual Program of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Proater). It will have four categories: well-being, flavor, art, and talent.
“The farmer will request a document through our website, either as an individual or legal entity. In this document, they will attach copies of the documents (Individual Taxpayer Registration or Legal Entity Registration), a copy of the artisan's card, and send us the proposal, with information about their product, as well as the intended category. Then, they must deliver the documentation to the nearest local office to their property. After 30 days, they will receive the seal with a registration number and specific QR Code for their product,” clarified the technical coordinator.
The “Flavor” category will be for identifying food products from the beneficiaries' production; “Art” for identifying handicraft and manual work products; “Well-being” for identifying hygiene, cosmetics, and herbal products; and “Talent” for identifying the services offered, in addition to the Emater Seal, intended for identifying productive units.
The action also included the presence of Secretary Cássio Pereira, from the State Secretariat of Family Agriculture (Seaf), and the president of Emater-Pará, Dr. Joniel Abreu, who highlighted the commitment of the Government of Pará to improving the quality of life of small farmers.
"It is an honor to participate in this historic moment, in which Emater launches the seal to give greater visibility to rural farmers, who bring a quality product to the consumer's table. And now, with the seal, this consumer will be able to know the entire origin of that product. With initiatives like this, Emater reaffirms our commitment, as the Government of Pará, to improving the quality of life of family farmers in our state,” emphasized Joniel Abreu.
