MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina ratifies trade policy before WTO, which questioned inflation stats

Foreign Trade Secretary Beatriz Paglieri underlined the success of Argentina’s reindustrialization policy

Argentina ratified its controversial trade policy during the periodic country review at the World Trade Organization, WTO, arguing Argentina has grown sustainedly since 2003, as have social indexes supported by the strong and successful re-industrialization program.

The Wednesday presentation was done at WTO headquarters in Geneva by Foreign Trade Secretary Beatriz Paglieri and Foreign Affairs ministry International Economic Relations secretary Augusto Costa.

Earlier in the day WTO had questioned Argentina’s controversial inflation figures, and said restrictions to imports put the pressure on prices. “An increase in inflation is a source of concern, even though you can’t see that reflected on the official data” pointed out the WTO review document.

The Argentine delegation said the country had been successful in ensuring “the full rule of the country’s economic sovereignty in the framework of the commitments assumed with WTO to implement a policy of inclusive development, preserving the necessary equilibriums in the balance of payments with more and better trade and a greater level of productive integration in the region and the world”.

In that context “Argentina has complied with responsibility its commitment with the world trade system through a significant contribution helping to sustain global agregate demand which is reflected in the expansion rates of the GDP and trade volumes” added Paglieri and Acosta.

Trade policies of developing countries are reviewed by the organization every six years and they are a seldom chance for WTO officials to issue a statement. They are usually neutral and leave the 159 country members to debate between them.

According to the official release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Argentine delegation also replied to some of the several complaints and questionings from other WTO members referred to its current trade policy ‘appealing to legitimate instruments of trade policy”.

The official Argentine release concludes saying that most of the 35 WTO members attending Wednesday’s review “acknowledged and praised the strong economic performance of recent years underlining the advances in all social indicators and at the same time valued the results achieved since the last review of trade policies accomplished in 2007”.

Finally several countries from Europe and Asia welcomed the decision of the Argentine government to eliminate automatic and non automatic import licences implemented in the framework of WTO.