Silvina Garcia Larraburu, the senator for Rio Negro, has presented a project to extend the economic, productive, financial, and social emergency of the pear and apples production chain in the provinces of Rio Negro and Neuquen. "The fruit production of Rio Negro and Neuquén accounts for 87% of the cultivated area in the country, Argentina is the main exporter of pears with 460 million kilos, followed by China with 430 million and the European Union with 260 million kilos," she said.
The initiative goes hand in hand with the request of the Alto Valle producers who are demanding the extension of the emergency for the sector, which expired some days ago. In that sense, Senator Magdalena Odarda will request discussing the extension of the Fruit Emergency Law.
The final decision will depend on the national government, which hasn't made any public statements about this so far. The government is evaluating if it's necessary to maintain the fruit emergency that establishes benefits for the payment of tax obligations and social security resources on the direct actors of the pear and apple production chain.
Regarding the project Larraburu said: "It is essential to extend the emergency to protect our local producers and develop special regimes to address the complex problems of the sector."
Finally, Larraburu insisted on the importance of speeding up the regulation's process: "This project must be urgently sanctioned, as the number of small and medium primary producers who can not survive the crisis increases every day," she stated.
Source: rionegro.com.ar