July 14, 2014 

As the deadline for compensation for Argentina's 2001 default nears, a new lobby group is taking it out on the country's beef exports, claiming disease concerns, Bloomberg reports.

However, Argentina has refuted a claim by American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), a lobby group pushing for the compensation, that safety regulations for the country's cattle are insufficient to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. It said that the World Organisation for Animal Health has already recognised Argentina as free from foot-and-mouth since 2007 and that putting pressure on the US Congress is part of a strategy by the holdout hedge funds to put economic pressure on the country.

ATFA wants the United States to maintain a ban on beef imports from Argentina, increasing pressure on the government to pay hedge funds led by billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Management Corporation. It had hosted an event in Congress alongside the US Cattlemen's Association to update staff on the latest developments in Argentina's alleged attempts to undermine safety standards in the US beef market.

As the deadline for compensation nears, Argentina said it cannot comply with a US court order to fully pay holders of defaulted debt when it pays restructured bondholders since it would open it to additional claims of as much as US$15 billion. The country has until July 30 to either reach a settlement or be granted a delay on the effects of the ruling to avoid defaulting on its foreign law bonds due 2033.

Argentina earned US$101.5 million in May from beef exports, a 5.7% increase on-year, according to the Institute for the Promotion of Argentine Beef. The country's biggest beef export markets are Chile, Germany and Israel, according to the institute.