The provincial government is working with the garlic production sector from Mendoza and the entity that groups them in Brazil to apply effective antidumping measures in Brazil to curb the indiscriminate entry of garlic to that country and achieve a competitive market in prices.
"We are working so that the garlic sector, a key activity for the economy of Mendoza, continues to improve its yields and the internationalization of the product. We proposed a common agenda so that exports are more fluid so that we can continue investing and growing,"said the Minister of Economy, Martin Kerchner.
During a recent public hearing held in Brasilia with garlic producers, Rafael Jorge Corsino, the president of the National Association of Brazilian Garlic Producers (ANAPA), called for an end to the interpretative doubts regarding the impact of the antidumping tariffs as "some importers take advantage of legal loopholes to sell the product without having to pay the tax."
At the end of last year, the Brazilian Court granted the petition of large importers who managed to import some 800,000 boxes of garlic from the Asian giant without paying the antidumping tariff, at half of the value that the Argentinean exporters aspire to achieve this year, which affects the values of Mendoza shipments and deteriorates the sector's exports.
Guillermo San Martin, the general manager of the Association of Producers, Packers and Exporters of Garlic, Onions and Similar products from Mendoza (Asocamen), said that this action was to curb the petitions that allowed the import of garlic from China without paying the Antidumping fee.
"This would immediately have an effect on prices and the garlic season would start with a competitive prices market," he said.
These actions are part of an agreement signed by Anapa, Asocamen and the Ministry of Economy through ProMendoza, to defend Mendoza's garlic in Brazil, its main export destination.
Mendoza's garlic sector accounts for 80% of Argentina's garlic production. Argentina is the world's second largest exporter to Brazil - which consumes red garlic - followed by Europe, specifically by France, which requires white garlic.
Garlic production mainly takes place in the central zone of the Uco Valley and in the Green Belt of Guaymallen, Maipu and Lujan de Cuyo, with a cultivated area that stands between 10,000 and 12,000 hectares and a harvest of 120,000 tons.
According to data from the Ministry of Economy, this sector "produces a large amount of employment as it is the main activity for 1,600 to 2,000 farmers, and it creates 11,000 jobs each season."
In addition, there are about 100 packing and conditioning warehouses in Mendoza, 60% of which are located in Guaymallen and Maipu.
Source: Telam