MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentine farmers confident they can increase sales 28% to UK in the short term
Argentina has the potential to increase food sales to the UK by 28% in the short term, from the current US$ 830 million to US$ 1.060bn, according to the president of the powerful farmers' organization, Argentine Rural Society, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, currently in London with a business mission sponsored by the Argentine foreign ministry, the Argentine-British Chamber of Commerce and the embassy in London. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesSounds like Corned Beef has slumped and Uruguay has filled the gap. Chile seems to have been more successful with wine, the UK is its biggest export market. Bring on more trade.
Mar 22nd, 2017 - 05:52 pm - Link - Report abuse -4UK/Mercosur trade is a much better fit than EU/Mercosur trade.
Mar 22nd, 2017 - 06:20 pm - Link - Report abuse -4Basically much of what Mercosur wants to export, is what the EU (powerful parts of it at least) doesn’t want to import.
@ Pugol-H
Mar 22nd, 2017 - 07:37 pm - Link - Report abuse -7That is a very valid point.
@Pugol-H
Mar 22nd, 2017 - 07:49 pm - Link - Report abuse -7True, although wasn't it the UK and Ireland who were opposed to increasing EU beef imports?
Do the UK and Ireland have large beef herds?
Mar 22nd, 2017 - 10:46 pm - Link - Report abuse -7Certainly, Brexit is an opportunity for Argentina, or at least the Agricultural Elite as Enrique would say.
CFK's Protectionist policies hamstringing Mercosur, combined with the impossibility of a positive consensus from the members of the EU, pretty much guaranteed nothing would happen.
That has all changed now.
The principle of buying agricultural produce from Argentina is good. It's one of their strengths.
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 08:32 am - Link - Report abuse -6However how can we be sure that nutty Argentine nationalists won't contaminate the produce? Their hatred is overwhelming.
@ Kanye
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 12:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0To be fair the EU is protectionist too. The French farming industry has huge influence and are pretty militant about protecting their market, is one example.
Yes, we have large beef herds. After the CJD crisis and the stringent changes we probably have the safest beef. You can pretty much trace every cut of meat back to an individual animal. As DT said, we were definitely protectionist about our meat industry and the Irish will continue to lobby against any EU deal with Mercosur in the future.
ElaineB
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 01:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks. I did understand that individual EU countries are Protectionist for different products. That's why they can't get a consensus on a FTA with Mercosur.
I was not aware that beef was such a commodity in the EU already.
Surely any trade agreement with Argentina should be subject to an agreement from that country that they will cease and desist via a viz the Falkland Islands?
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 05:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ Kanye
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 06:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Agriculture in the EU is governed by the Common Agricultural Policy, the worst nightmare imaginable after the Common Fisheries Policy.
Some 40%+ of EU money is spent on less than 10% of the EU’s population.
It is the main construct of the Berlin/Paris axis, designed to keep the French sweet, which the British never managed to change.
Margaret Thatcher did however manage to get most of our contributions back in the form of a rebate, so we weren’t paying for EU Food Mountains and wine lakes.
One of the conditions for the E. European countries when they joined the EU was that they would not get the same level of payments as France, Belgium and Spain etc. etc.
Something which countries like Poland have never stopped trying to change, along with the UK rebate to pay for it.
Interestingly under the current CAP budget Scottish farmers get 16% of UK funding, under Barnet they would get 9%.
Devolved power anyone.
Ta Da!!!!
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 06:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://en.mercopress.com/2017/03/23/irish-farmers-lobby-wants-beef-out-of-mercosur-eu-trade-talks
@ Kanye
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 06:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just checked some stats and the EU beef export market is 9th in the world. Behind Uruguay (8th) but ahead of Argentina (12th). Brazil is/was top and the U.S. (4th). I guess on its own Ireland doesn't rank that high but if it is significant to their economy they are going to oppose anything that would affect it.
I suppose I should mention the Aberdeen Angus originated in Scotland.
@ElaineB
Mar 23rd, 2017 - 08:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Exactly. It's significant for both countries wherever we are in the world rankings, and the story today bears this out.
@Pugol-H
I agree about the CAP, it's badly in need of reform. That is the kind of reforms I was hoping Cameron would ask for in his negotiations with the EU, along with actually getting the accounts audited. Lots of the richer countries are being screwed over by the CAP, it should have been possible to get some support for reform. Instead he just asked for more minor exceptions for Britain, which were never going to impress anyone even if he had got his way 100%.
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