April 20, 2009

Argentina's Domestic Commerce Secretary is asking leading beef exporters to provide a list of their customers and contact information, which are confidential trade information.

Secretary Guillermo Morena on Wednesday (Apr 15) requested beef exporters to provide the company name, contact, telephone number, address and email of their overseas buyers.

The companies are unwilling to do so, but are wary of angering Morena who has repeatedly intervened in the beef market in recent years, shutting down exports when domestic prices rise.

Argentina's export limits have also allowed other beef-exporting countries to claw its market share away.

Analysts suspect the government wants the information to verify the sales price of shipments to ensure no fraud or tax evasion has taken place.

The request follows news last week that Argentina has begun withholding export tax rebates over alleged fraud.

Irregularities have been detected in 70 percent of export tax rebate petitions, said Ricardo Echegaray, director of the Federal Tax Agency (AFIP).

About ARS1.9 billion (US$515 million) in funds are typically refunded to exporters entitled to get back advanced value-added-tax payments, but there are widespread cases of inflated receipts, Echegaray said, adding that the taxes would not be returned until the matter is cleared up.

In March, AFIP greatly increased its withholding of the challenged rebates, paying out just ARS125 million (US$34 million), compared with ARS475 million (US$129 million) a year earlier, according to AFIP.