Argentina: Measures to ease restrictions on fruit from Mendoza

The second district senator and chairman of the International Relations Committee, Mercosur and Inte…

The second district senator and chairman of the International Relations Committee, Mercosur and Integration, Walter Soto, initiated an action plan that aims at defending the position of producers of pears and apples from Mendoza in light of the new requirements that Brazil would establish for fruit exports.

The legislator established a work schedule to publicize the situation of the local industry and to request some conditions of the new Risk Mitigation System are changed as they directly affect local fruit exports.

This week, the Soto met with producers from Mendoza and Brazilian authorities to try to find common ground. In that sense, the idea is to present the fruit industry's request at the bilateral meeting that will be held in Brasilia in two weeks.

According to Soto, they are working on some fundamental points, such as the new system of penalties and the treatments required on the fields of Mendoza.

On the first point, Soto noted that, as a result of the hardening of measures, even if its minimal, the presence of codling moth (larvae that is found in the fruit) in the fields of Mendoza could jeopardize all of a producer's work. Previously, when larva was detected, the batch in question was sanctioned. With the new regulations, not only would the batch in question suffer, but also-five hectares (250,000 kilos) and warehouses are sanctioned for 30 days, which in the case of some fields in Mendoza, covers all the production.

Soto initiated an action plan to accompany the request made by the producers of Mendoza, Neuquén and Rio Negro to the SENASA so that some of the mitigation measures were revoked. To do this, the president of the Mercosur Commission met with producers and with the consul of Brazil, so as to inform her of the producers' plight so she could forward said issue to the neighboring country's ambassador in Buenos Aires.

Additionally, the Minister of Agro Industry, Marcelo Costa, and the president of ISCAMEN, were summoned to meet on Thursday with the Commission in order to look for joint solutions to the problem.