Argentina: Meat exporters support the government but ask for more markets to be opened to ease dependence on China

The head of the Argentine Meat Exporters Consortium (ABC) and vice president of the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute (IPCVA), Mario Ravettino, highlighted the latest measures adopted by the national government in the sector. But he called for further opening of new markets to get out of dependence on China. “Argentina has only one Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to sign, with the European Union (EU). While Chile, which is a neighboring country, has more than 40,” the businessman exemplified in a field day held by the IPCVA in the Cordoba town of Oncativo. In that sense, he highlighted the “exporting vocation” that the trans-Andean nation always had despite the ideological changes of its governments, which allowed it to seal those agreements. “The dependence on China is too much. We export 80% of what we produce to them, when Brazil does so at 39% and Uruguay is trying to make it only 34%,” he said. In this regard, he commented: “During July, due to health certification, although in ...