MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile to eat Argentine beef again

Chilean minister of agriculture, Alvaro Rojas, confirmed last week that from September 1 he will lift the ban on Argentine beef imports that have weighed heavily on rancher's profits.

"It is our desire that we can celebrate September 18 - National Chile Day - with an asado of Argentine beef," said Rojas.

The total ban on Argentine beef imports has been in place for seven months, ever since the discovery of a case of foot-and-mouth disease in Formosa province.

Speaking on Radio Chile, Rojas declared that his ministry had already "made all the necessary arrangements in order to reopen the market to Argentine beef and to fill Chile's gap on supermarket shelves."

"I believe that it has a place in the national market, it is important to have it and it must also be seen as an act of friendship towards Argentina", sustained the Chilean minister of the move.

Rojas added that it will be up to Chilean importers as to when Argentine beef starts to flow back into the country at full speed but reaffirmed that from the beginning of September, as far as the government is concerned, there will be no prohibition of Argentine beef from Chilean markets