February 5, 2007

Chile legislator to propose salmon farming tax

A Chilean legislator likely will present a bill in Congress that would force salmon farmers to pay a royalty-like tax for the use of natural resources, El Mercurio newspaper reported Friday (Feb 2).

"I believe it should be similar to the mining industry royalty," Senator Camilo Escalona, member of the Socialist Party, said in the report.

He argues salmon farmers use two public resources, subsoil and water, and that they should pay a sliding-scale tax based on their output.

Escalona expects to have the bill ready in March, when legislators return from the southern-hemisphere summer recess.

A salmon industry representative counters that salmon farmers use renewable resources and that the tax would curb industry investments, the newspaper reported.

Chile is one of the world's largest salmon producers, exporting over US$1 billion worth of fresh and frozen salmon products a year.