Argentina will use this week’s visit by president Barack Obama to push for the reopening the US market to Argentine lemons following a 16-year ban.
The trip marks the first official visit to Argentina by an American leader in two decades, and is evidence of a thawing of relations between the two countries following the election of Mauricio Macri at the end of last year.
“Argentina is the biggest lemon producer in the world and the province of Tucumán is the main producing region in the country. We’re working hard alongside the agriculture and foreign ministries to enable Tucumán lemons to access international markets,” said the Minister for Production, Francisco Cabrera.
Following a visit by representatives from the USDA-APHIS to farms in the northwestern provinces of Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca last July, a working plan was established to reopen the market.
Daniela Martin of the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina hailed the visit as “a historic opportunity to re-launch the relationship between the US and Argentina” and said it would “work like a catalyst, putting Argentina back in the shop window”.
Argentina is the world’s biggest lemon producer, exporting around US$600m of the product every year to markets across the globe.
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