Unusual Mercosur: Uruguay, with the disaster in Rio Grande do Sul, urgently needs new suppliers of pork but not

Mercosur was established with the purpose of promoting trade between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. However, more than three decades since its founding, it continues to record unusual episodes. The unprecedented floods that hit the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul are preventing the entry of Brazilian pork into Uruguay, which represents a problem because the eastern country is not self-sufficient in this animal protein. “I predict that if this continues like this, in seven or eight days there will be a lack of bondiola in the market,” the director of the Abasto Santa Clara firm, Jorge López, told the site Ganadería.uy. “It is affecting a lot, especially the pig, most of which comes from Santa Catarina and passes through Porto Alegre,” he added. The climate and humanitarian disaster occurring in the state of Rio Grande do Sul has generated logistical chaos, given that many of the main routes are completely blocked. In the first quarter of this year, Uruguay imported ...