Brazil recently passed a law to recognize açaí, a berry endemic to the Amazon, as a national fruit, citing concerns about biopiracy — the commercial exploitation of native species and traditional knowledge without consent or fair compensation.
Açaí is a staple food in northern Brazil, where it’s eaten as a savory paste typically served with fish and manioc flour. Globally, it’s gained a reputation as an energy-dense “superfood,” often used in smoothies, amid growing international demand and investment in traditional bioeconomy products derived from Amazonian biodiversity. The new law, sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recognizes both the açaí tree (Euterpe oleracea) and its berries as part of Brazil’s biodiversity heritage.
“The legislative recognition of açaí as a national fruit will have a mostly symbolic value. It seeks to reinforce the identity of açaí as a Brazilian product,” Sheila de Souza Corrêa de Melo, an intellectual property analyst at Embrapa Oriental, the Amazon branch of Brazil’s Agricultural Research Corporation, told Mongabay by phone.
In 2021, Brazil ratified the Nagoya Protocol, a global treaty governing access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. It has helped improve international guidelines to prevent biopiracy and related disputes, de Melo said.
The new law amends a 2008 law that granted similar recognition to cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), another fruit endemic to the Amazon Rainforest, closely related to cacao, following a trademark dispute with Japan in the early 2000s.
Before that, in 2003, another dispute arose from Japanese company K.K. Eyela Corporation registering açaí as its intellectual property. That claimed was cancelled in 2007.
In 2018, Brazilian federal prosecutors accused a U.S.-based açaí exporter, Sambazon, of biopiracy for using the fruit without authorization under Brazil’s biodiversity laws. The company denied the charges.
Brazil’s legal framework also includes a landmark 2015 biopiracy law. It requires that 1% of company profits be paid to Indigenous or traditional communities if their knowledge was used in the development of a product including pharmaceuticals or cosmetics. The 2015 law doesn’t apply to simple consumption
According to the Intellectual Property Division of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, açaí has grown from a regional food to an international commodity. In 2024, Brazil produced 1.7 million metric tons of açaí, and is expected to keep pace with growing demand for exports. “Açaí has become a symbol of the Amazon and one of the country’s most dynamic production chains,” the ministry told Mongabay by email.
Formal recognition of açaí as a national fruit strengthens Brazil’s ability to distinguish its biological resources and traditional knowledge, the ministry said. That will make it harder for foreign companies to claim exclusive rights over açaí-derived products, it added.
“The measure strengthens the country’s position in commercial disputes and protects traditional communities that depend on harvesting the fruit to survive,” the ministry wrote.
Banner image: Açaí berry harvesting in the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory, home to the Munduruku people, Pará state, Brazil. Image © Valdemir Cunha/Greenpeace.
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