Five industry organisations call for urgent action from the government to “guarantee their survival”
A group of Argentine fruit associations have called for urgent government action to ease the pressure facing exporters and “guarantee their survival”.
The five organisations issued a joint statement setting out a list of measures they say need, following meetings with government authorities. They are the Argentine Blueberry Committee (ABC), Argentine Chamber of Integrated Fruit Growers (Cafi), cherry producer association CAPCI, the Pecan Cluster, and the Argentine Citrus Federation (Federcitrus).
The four concrete measures they said are urgently needed are: export funds must be updated, adjusting the percentages to their actual technical values in order to prevent exports from continuing to be burdened with domestic taxes; VAT refunds should be given swiftly and without delay through the implementation of an automatic refund system to reduce bureaucracy and improve response times; a review of the law on the deduction of employer contributions; and a proposed VAT rate of 10.5 per cent on energy costs intended for productive use, especially for electricity-dependent industries, until national and provincial taxes are reduced.
The associations insist that these measures as necessary to alleviate the pressure on fruit producers and exporters while the country’s macroeconomic situation stabilises. They highlighted the economic and social impact of the fruit sector, which generates more than 150,000 direct jobs and contributes more than US$550mn in foreign currency to the country.
The associations also met with the Argentine Agency for Investment and International Trade, led by Claudia Marceca, to request support for the sector’s internationalization strategy.
Among the topics discussed were participation in international fairs and the development of communication campaigns to strengthen the positioning of Argentine fruits in global markets.
