Argentina announced that the United States APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) has allowed fresh beef imports from Argentina, lifting a 15-year ban which Buenos Aires had always considered 'unjustified' and bluntly 'protectionist' and as such had claimed before the WTO. In the same vein Argentina also anticipated it expected a similar decision from the US regarding Argentine lemons.
Argentina's revival as a major force in beef has been slowed by a dent to calving rates from poor weather, besides by a reluctance by producers to maximize animal weights, in the face of export restrictions.
Argentine Agriculture Minister Carlos Casamiquela and Federal Planning chief Julio De Vido rebuffed the criticism of the head of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), Luis Etchevehere, who at the opening of the Palermo livestock show accused the government of President Cristina Fernandez of being “ignorant and arrogant”.
The wine used for the masses of Pope Francis will be made using grapes from small Argentine producers with 500 liters of the drink already in production, according to a report from the Project for the Integration of Small Producers in the Viticulture Chain (PROVIAR).
The administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernández announced on Monday a major cabinet reshuffle naming Chaco governor Jorge Capitanich as new cabinet chief and Axel Kicillof Economy minister while the Central bank will have a new president, Carlos Fabrega.