Chinese garlic, which is smuggled into the country, floods the local market and is sold at 40% less than the national product, which negatively affects national producers mainly concentrated in the valleys of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija.
"The Chinese garlic began to arrive about four years ago. I received it once. It looks good, but has no taste. It's like cork but it's cheaper than the national garlic, that's why a lot of merchants buy it," said Marcelo Alba, a marketer of dried fruits and other spices in the Ortega passage.
Twenty five pounds of national garlic arroba costs 190 to 200 bolivianos in the most populous markets of the city, while that of Chinese origin costs 160 to 170 bolivianos.
"You can get Chinese garlic all year round, but it is sold more at this time, when it is winter and there's not much production from Tarija or Cochabamba," Alba said.
Regarding the Peruvian garlic, the merchants of Chorolque Street said it was small and served for certain foods, unlike the national product, which is used even by purists.
"The Chinese and Peruvian garlic is smuggled into the country, through the Desaguadero. Then they come here and offer it to us. Many people buy it because of its price and because the supply from Tarija, from Chuquisaca, and those regions, decreases in winter," said Mrs. Claudina, the owner of a shop near the Buenos Aires avenue.
Mrs. Arminda said that, in addition to the three aforementioned varieties, other local merchants also offered the Chinese-Bolivian garlic.
"It's just making its appearance. Producers have used Chinese garlic seeds, which are very beautiful, to produce it in Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. It looks good and tastes good," Arminda said.
A pound of this type of garlic costs 10 bolivianos, while a pound of Chinese or Peruvian garlic costs eight bolivianos.
"We have border control points, to carry out the verification of plant products, and to ensure that the food has the phytosanitary import permits. However, since contraband is out of control, the products without permits enter the country, mainly through Desaguadero and Guaqui," Marco Machicado, an official of the National Service of Agricultural Health and Food Safety (Senasag) of La Paz, acknowledged.
Source: paginasiete.bo