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Montevideo, March 29th 2024 - 10:37 UTC

 

 

Argentine has ‘liberated’ 75% of retained import licences says Uruguayan minister

Thursday, March 3rd 2011 - 05:55 UTC
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Minister Roberto Kreimerman Minister Roberto Kreimerman

Uruguay’s cabinet meeting spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that Argentina had “liberated” 75% of the import licences that remained delayed and which was one of the main points of the agenda in the recent summit between Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

“Most licences, actually 75% have been liberated by Argentine authorities and we expect that the rest will be normalized in the coming days”, said Roberto Kreimerman Industry, Energy and Mines minister acting as spokesperson.

The announcement following Wednesday’s meeting of the ‘productive’ cabinet was seen as a reply to claims from Uruguayan manufacturers and exporters who were not satisfied with the results of last week’s presidential meeting in Buenos Aires.

At the meeting according to diplomatic sources, the Argentine president reiterated that the measures basically restricting those imports that are cornering Argentine industry or threatening with a dominant share of the domestic market in detriment of Argentine jobs are specifically targeted to Asian products and not Mercosur associates.

As happened previously with Brazil, (Argentina’s main trade partner) a bilateral monitoring commission was agreed with Uruguay to keep track of import licences and their possible delays.

Last month Argentina increased the imports non automatic licensing system from 400 to 600 products. Under the system import licences can be delayed up to 30 and 60 days but in many occasions those periods are ignored.

This is particularly threatening for those goods which are seasonable or perishable.

Nevertheless Uruguayan (and for that matter Brazilian) exporters complain that it’s not only what is written on paper.

Argentina’s Interior Commerce Secretary, Guillermo Moreno, with the blessing of the Kirchner governments, appeals to thug methods to curtail imports or implement the official Argentine development model of substituting imports.

In effect Mr Moreno is known to ring supermarket chains’ managers and tell them what they should not import and what prices should remain unchanged. The same with different suppliers who if not are exposed to sanitary, tax, fire department inspections, when not to pickets or summoned to his office where he receives his victims with a gun on his desk and informs them of the latest ‘instructions-suggestions’.

“I think I did quite well. I think we won’t have problems”, said Uruguayan president Mujica on his return to Montevideo following the meeting with Mrs. Kirchner.

A firs estimate from the Uruguayan Chamber of Industries said that the latest addition to the non automatic licences costs Uruguayan manufacturers approximately 100 million US dollars, equivalent to 20% of exports to Argentina to which must added the “informal imports substitution” instructions from Secretary Moreno.
 

Categories: Economy, Politics, Argentina, Uruguay.

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