Joao Pacheco serves as a Director of European and Brazilian Markets for Allen F. Johnson & Associates (AFJ). Mr. Pacheco brings over 30 years of top European government, trade, agriculture policy, and private sector experience. He served multiple leadership roles representing Europe in multinational and bilateral negotiations throughout the world. In addition, he has valuable and unique experience in dealing with EU internal policies, the inner workings of the European Commission, the European Parliament and European Council, and working with all the European Union’s member states. Mr. Pacheco’s diverse international experience, combined with his in-depth knowledge of European affairs and markets, provides a valuable perspective that assists AFJ clients and partners in understanding the market and in addressing market access, subsidy, SPS, food safety, farm and trade policy, technology, and other issues.

Mr. Pacheco has held multiple top-level positions in the European Commission. Most recently, he was the top official in the European Commission in charge of policy management for the European Union agricultural direct payments and agricultural markets. He was a lead European Commission negotiator in 2013 with the co-legislators - European Parliament and European Council - for the reform of the European Union Common Agriculture Policy. As the representative of the European Commission in the reform negotiations for agriculture markets and domestic support, he was instrumental in achieving a political deal with the other two European Union Institutions in June 2013. As a Deputy-Director General in the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), he was the spokesperson for the European Commission at the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and at the European Council Special Committee on Agriculture. 

Mr. Pacheco has also served the European Union Ambassador to Brazil. In that position, he played a key role in promoting the establishment of the European Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership, which among other areas established bilateral consultations on agriculture. Prior to being appointed Ambassador to Brazil, he was the European Union top agricultural negotiator the European Union - Mercosul Free Trade Agreement negotiations. He also formerly was the European Commission spokesperson at the OECD Committee on Agriculture and at the World Trade Organization Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. Pacheco has extensive experience in multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations, including at the World Trade Organization, the US, Canada, and Latin American, African, and Caribbean countries.

Joao Pacheco graduated with a degree in Agronomy from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and later obtained a Master in Agricultural Economics degree at the Wye College, University of London, UK. Prior to joining the European Commission, he worked in the insurance business in Portugal. He is fluent in French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.