Leaders of the poultry industries of the United States and Brazil signed a Memorandum of Understanding at a trade show in Cologne, Germany, over the weekend, pledging to work cooperatively on common issues while remaining staunch competitors, the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) and the Brazilian Chicken Producers and Exporters Association (ABEF) announced.

Under terms laid out in the MOU, USAPEEC and ABEF agree to promote sound public policies on several points, including ecologically sustainable guidelines for poultry production, science-based animal health and food safety regulations, the expansion of free trade and promoting relations based on cooperation instead of confrontation.

The MOU also sets a course for periodic meetings between industry leaders from the United States and Brazil for discussions on issues of common interest.

"Our industry strongly supports the concepts stated in the MOU," said Jim Sumner, president of USAPEEC. "We will continue to agree to disagree, because after all, we remain competitors above everything else. But under the terms of the MOU, we agree to work cooperatively on issues of mutual concern."

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