The Government wants the production from Tucuman to be competitive once again. In the coming days, the government will activate the necessary diplomatic mechanisms to make a formal request to the United States.
The Government will back up Tucuman's request to the United States to eliminate a tariff that has stopped local strawberry exports. That was the promise that the chief of staff, Marcos Peña, made to Governor Juan Manzur during a meeting at the Presidential House. "He promised they would contact the US Embassy in the country (which is headed by Martin Lousteau) to formally make a request in the name of the strawberry sector," said Manzur after the meeting in Buenos Aires. These efforts would be made in parallel to the work being done allow lemons to reenter the United States.
Tucuman's production marketing in the US has suffered a blow since that country removed Argentina's membership of the tariff General System Preferences (GSP) because of a number of commercial disputes. Manzur said that, following this situation, strawberries started to have a tax tariff of 11.2% which, together with an adverse currency exchange and increases in domestic costs, caused a drop in the fruit's competitiveness, despite its quality. Thus, Tucuman's strawberry produce has been at a disadvantage when compared to strawberries produced by countries such as Peru, Chile, or Mexico, which don't have to pay tariffs in that market.
Last season, producers devoted 300 hectares to strawberries, i.e. 500 hectares less than there were before the country lost the GSP, or a similar area to 2003. According to an official report, production in 2015 amounted to 10,500 tons, 2,184 of which were exported. 43% or 947 tons of which were sold to the United States. This means there was a 58% drop in the volume produced and an 83% drop in the volume exported globally and to North America.
As a result, small producers have had to face a saturated supply and low prices.
The protectionist measures in Asian and European countries, and the tariff costs (which add up to 14.2% in the latter case), make it unrealistic to access these markets, stated the executive branch.
What's coming
In his presentation to the Cabinet Chief's Office, the governor said the elimination of the tariff would allow them to increase the current 300 hectares devoted to strawberries to 1,000 hectares, as the province has the installed capacity to supply the market.
The elimination of the tariff, coupled with the recovery of international economic conditions, and the strengthening of bilateral ties with the United States, would be the platform for the relaunch of the strawberry sector and the development of consistent trade policies.
In addition, the increased productive areas could create a socioeconomic improvement. For instance, Manzur said that 16 people per hectare were needed for the harvesting and packing of the fruit, and that 40% of these jobs were filled by women. "That means we could recover some 6,000 jobs in a sector that, directly or indirectly, can mobilise about 24,000 people," he said.
Source: lagaceta.com.ar