Rossi clarifies use of private jet.

The Minister of Agriculture, Wagner Rossi, today released a statement clarifying allegations published in the newspaper Correio Braziliense. According to the report, Minister Rossi and one of his five sons, state representative Baleia Rossi (PMDB-SP), use a private jet belonging to the company Ourofino Agronegócios for personal trips.

The report states that Ourofino, based in Ribeirão Preto (SP), the city where the minister and his family live, allegedly received authorizations from the government in the patent field and registered an 81% growth due to the firm's involvement in the ministry's vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease.

In a statement released on the Ministry of Agriculture's website, Rossi clarifies that the authorization process for the company Ourofino Agronegócios to produce the Ourovac Aftosa medication began at the Ministry in September 2006. "Therefore, before my tenure as head of the Ministry and my participation in the government."

Rossi states that over the course of four years, the technical procedures that culminated in the authorization to manufacture the veterinary product were rigorously followed. "The approval, release, and license to open the factory, for example, occurred in March 2009. At that time, I was not Minister of Agriculture."

The minister stated that, "contrary to what the report insinuates," Ourofino was not the only company to receive authorization. "Inova Biotecnologia (MG) also received a license from the government in October 2010 to manufacture Aftomune, as the company's foot-and-mouth disease vaccine is called. This occurred during the same period in which Ourofino was licensed."

Rossi comments in the note that until 2009 only six companies, five of which were multinationals, had government authorization to produce and market the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine in Brazil. "National companies, such as Ourofino and Inova, obtained official status for the production of the veterinary medicine. The decision, based on technical grounds, aimed to open the market. In addition to these two, the Argentinian company Biogenesis also obtained authorization to produce the vaccine in 2009."

The minister argues that "the three companies have a good reputation in the market and fulfilled all the prerequisites, without privileges or special treatment." At the end of the statement, Rossi informs that "on rare occasions I used the plane mentioned in the report as a passenger."