Argentine's Export Duty Reduction to Be Extended

The Argentine government confirmed the extension for six months of the export duties reduction on fish products such as hake (Merluccius hubbsi), shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) and squid (Illex argentinus).

The move confirmation was announced during a meeting between the head of the National Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Norberto Yauhar; the National Undersecretary of Fisheries, Miguel Bustamante; and representatives of the Council of Argentine Fishing Companies (CEPA), the Chamber of Argentine Fisheries (CAIPA), Cafrexport and the Argentine Chamber of Fish Manufacturers.

From the decree publication, possibly next week, these three resources will continue to benefit from the export tax cut scheme decided by the national executive in August 2011.

"We were assured that they will extend the duty reductions for another six months under the same conditions", said Ciro D'Antonio, president of Cafrexport, said to Pescare.

Likewise, the authorities anticipated that they will examine the extension of the benefit to other species not yet covered, which form part of the Argentine coastal set of species (variado pesquero).

At the meeting, the businessmen called for speeding up reimbursements and the possibility of using them to pay social security contributions, together with the need to rebuild the working capital.

In addition, the parties assessed the import barriers that some operators find when importing inputs -- spare parts of machines, tunnels -- and raw materials.

According to national authorities, the measure was taken in response to the decision of the Member States of the European Union (EU) to set prices for imports and to encourage local production.

In the case of processed hake, whose duty was at 10 per cent, went down to 5 per cent, and in the case of hake with other processes, the cut was from 10 per cent to 1 per cent.

Regarding the reduction of duties applied to shrimp exports, the application of duties moved from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

Finally, it was decided a cut from 10 per cent to 2.5 per cent for all varieties of squid, except for the battered and clean squid, whose export duties fell from 10 per cent to 1 per cent.