February 20, 2012

Argentina to extend export tax cut on seafood

Argentina has decided to extend its export tax cut on seafood products like hake, shrimp and squid for another six months.

The move confirmation was announced during a meeting between the head of the National Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Norberto Yauhar; the National Undersecretary of Fisheries, Miguel Bustamante; and representatives of the Council of Argentine Fishing Companies (CEPA), the Chamber of Argentine Fisheries (CAIPA), Cafrexport and the Argentine Chamber of Fish Manufacturers.

From the decree publication, possibly next week, these three resources will continue to benefit from the export tax cut scheme decided by the national executive in August 2011.

Likewise, the authorities anticipated that they will examine the extension of the benefit to other species not yet covered, which form part of the Argentine coastal set of species.

At the meeting, the businessmen called for speeding up reimbursements and the possibility of using them to pay social security contributions, together with the need to rebuild the working capital.

In addition, the parties assessed the import barriers that some operators find when importing inputs -- spare parts of machines, tunnels -- and raw materials.

According to national authorities, the measure was taken in response to the decision of the Member States of the European Union (EU) to set prices for imports and to encourage local production.

In the case of processed hake, whose duty was at 10%, went down to 5%, and in the case of hake with other processes, the cut was from 10% to 1%.

Regarding the reduction of duties applied to shrimp exports, the application of duties moved from 10% to 5%.

Finally, it was decided a cut from 10% to 2.5% for all varieties of squid, except for the battered and clean squid, whose export duties fell from 10% to 1%.