Mercosur's Parliament has approved a project by Parliamentarian Gabriel Fidel to protect Mendoza's industrialized fruit.
The project, registered as MEP/279/2016, was presented at the request of the Chamber of Mendoza's Industrialized Fruit, after they identified a triangulation practice of canned peaches from Greece via Paraguay.
Gabriel Fidel said that "this project is very important for Mendoza and for exporters of fruit, especially of peaches, because Paraguay's action harms our producers."
"It is comforting to know that the majority of the parliamentarians supported us with their vote, as we are defending the interests of the producers of Mendoza and Rio Grande Do Sul," Fidel said.
"The next step is to ask the Common Market Council, the executive body of Mercosur, that Paraguay should have the same tariff as the rest of the countries, to guarantee legitimate competition," he added.
Some background
Mendoza, along with Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), are the only two peach for industry producing areas in South America. Mendoza currently has 7,442 hectares dedicated to this crop, which produce an average of 150,000 to 180,000 tons.
This production is enough to cover local demand and generate a small exportable balance, which is mainly sent to Mercosur countries.
However, local production is threatened by peaches of Greek origin, as the Greeks have a better productivity and strong subsidies to their production. As a result of these differences, CAFIM achieved in 2015 that the Mercosur Common Market Council impose a common 35% external tariff on this product until 2023.
Despite not being a producer Paraguay requested and obtained the opportunity to continue importing this product at a 14% tariff, which led to product triangulations. This means that Paraguay began importing canned peaches and then started selling them to other countries without paying the corresponding taxes.
The project approved today asks the Council to rectify this situation to protect the producers from Mendoza and Rio Grand do Sul. In addition, they also requested that these regional economies' characteristics be taken into account to protect and promote them.
These types of projects are indispensable to allow the development of our producers and economies.
Source: jornadaonline.com