International Trade at ANEPA Congress

by Virginia Marroni

SALTO, URUGUAY - A milestone in the history of Uruguayan Civil Aviation was

reached with the successful ending of the Expo-Congress '98 of Agricultural

Aviation. The attendance of national and international

enterprises/companies to the Congress fulfilled the expectations the

National Association of Private Aerial Agricultural Companies of Uruguay

(ANEPA). Nearly 95% of the Uruguayan pilots and companies were present, as

well as many Argentinean and Brazilian pilots and companies.

A total of 458 people attended the Congress. This included pilots,

agricultural aviation companies (282, including 38 wives and family), 27

lecturers, agronomists, 72 growers and 53 exhibitor personnel. There were

21 exhibits with 22 spray planes (of which three flew demonstrations),

three acrobatic planes, an 18-plane air raid and five aircraft working in

support of the activities that took place during the Congress.

Lecturers and exhibitors came from the USA, Canada, Brasil, Argentina,

Peru, Colombia and Uruguay. Attendees held high regard for the lecturers at

the Congress, as well as the importance and urgency of the topics presented

by them. Among the various prestigious lecturers present at the Congress

were Mr. Cardozo, representative of the International Organization of Civil

Aviation (IOCA), and Mr. Santiago Garcia, representative of the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA).

On a national level, the effort of ANEPA, together with the participation

of the National Direction of Civil Aviation and Aeronautic Infrastructure

(DINACIA), the Departmental Government of Salto, and the Salto Aviation

Center, shows an effective partnership between the private sector and the

government in the organization of an event that was considered of national

interest.

Among the different themes related to agricultural aviation that were

presented during the Congress, there are some which require further

consideration. For instance, there is still work to do in updating

Uruguayan legislation, even though ANEPA, DINACIA and the Ministry of

Agriculture (MGAP) have reached a promising agreement on this topic. The

attendance of Brazilian and Argentinean authorities gave MERCOSUR private

companies and governments the possibility of a mutual approach, which is

fundamental to cope with the challenge of regional integration.

At a company level, business was conducted with many sales made at the

convention and more promised. Also, there was an understanding between

competing companies the advantages of developing better relationships for

the benefit of the whole regional agricultural sector.

In the Congress, apart from the conferences in technology updating for

pilots, the fight against environmental contamination of the region was

carried forward. The level of environmental impact caused by aerial sprays

was analyzed, with an emphasis on the importance of reaching perfection and

the best quality.

Taking advantage of the high level lecturers, there were conferences

oriented to agronomic engineers and growers, who were very enthusiastic and

numerous. Also, in the frame of the Agricultural Aviation

Expo-Congreso-Taller 98, a tasting of for-export Uruguayan wines was held

under the auspices of the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (INAVI).

Five hundred people, many of which were foreigners, agreed on the high

quality of the Uruguayan wine.

Now that the Congress is over, there are still several topics to keep

working on. In the future, it will be very important to maintain meetings

between the governments and companies of MERCOSUR countries, in order to

assure that agricultural aviation be treated in its whole complexity as a

process of regional integration.

Finally, ANEPA believes the Congress has been the first step towards

perfection in technology and the integration into a sector of

unquestionable importance for agricultural production. The effort has been

hard, but the results are very promising.