The words were compelling. "At a macroeconomic level, the retentions are an easy slap at a safe resource and go against the idea of developing the external sector and generating foreign exchange. The truth is that it discourages some producers and leaves others out of competition," stated Jose Carbonell, the president of the Argentine Federation of Citrus (Federcitrus).
Argentina, with its axis in Tucuman, is the world's leading producer and exporter of lemons in their different variants: fresh fruit, essential oil (high value), dehydrated peels, and juices.
"The measure logically affects the sector, but the most serious thing is the impact that it will have on the production of oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit in the NEA, which has had very complicated years and was beginning to recover," said Carbonell.
The president of Federcitrus said that the lemon sector from Tucuman, which exports 95% of its production, had achieved its competitiveness after decades of investment in technology, phytosanitary management and market opening.
Some people say that the escalation of the dollar will more than compensate the export rights, however, this isn't true as most of the costs are in dollars (for example, fuel, agrochemicals and spare parts), he said.
"Once again they ask us to make a temporary effort to achieve fiscal balance. We hope it's not to maintain the inefficiency of public spending," Carbonell concluded.
Source: clarin.com