Argentina’s government deregulated banana imports, but the dollar exchange rate still affects Bolivian and foreign producers. The industry expects that this situation will be regularized in the coming months.
The Minister of Economy, Luis Arce, said Argentina’s market liberalization would benefit Bolivia because, according to the ABI, it made some tariff rules to export bananas and other products to that country more flexibly.
According to the Minister, before the Government of Mauricio Macri, Argentina implemented tariff barriers on some imports to defend its domestic production, a measure that was suspended by this government. “This has benefited us, as they had to deregulate exports and imports because of the existing tariff barriers,” said Arce.
However, the general manager of the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE), Gary Rodriguez, said the banana sector was concerned because the exchange rate adopted by Argentina cheapened their products and undermined the competitiveness of Bolivian products.
The Vice President of the Union of Banana Workers of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Victor Eid Malcuni, said that they used to sell a box of 20 kilos of bananas for six to seven dollars but that, due to Argentina’s new high exchange rate, they were currently being paid up to $5.50 dollars.
He said that the sector faced competition from Brazil in that market, and that they sold their boxes at three dollars.
According to data from the IBCE, in 2015 banana exports amounted to $35.7 million dollars and they were the non-traditional product that was sold the most to the Argentine market.
Source: Fresh Plaza