The Argentine Agro-industrial Council (CAA) has launched an agro-industrial plan with 40 proposals over 10 years to obtain exports of 100,000 million dollars and 870,000 new jobs. And they will present it to all the political forces that will present themselves in this year’s presidential elections.
“This group seeks to be a unit of construction, of proposals, not stopping at the situation. The situation challenges us, but it is prudent to put out long lights,” said the president of the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, Jose Martins, during the presentation.
According to data provided by Martins, the Agro-industrial Council is made up of 61 entities, representing 36 supply chains in 23 provinces of the country, where it has 250,000 producers. And he confirmed the contribution of agriculture to the country’s economy: 16% of GDP, 24% of private employment and generates 65% of total exports.
“We don’t want subsidies, we need incentives in the medium and long term that are not overturned by measures that generate unpredictability. The biggest winner of this plan is the state,” she noted. Gustav IdigoraPresident of Ciara-Cec.
“Production has been stagnant for decades. Every year we lose space, we lose access to certain markets and we become more primary”, said the manager, adding that every day more primary products are exported, with a low degree of industrialization, while the opposite happens in the world.
Of the 40 policies presented, Idígoras supported it the most important is the elimination of export duties.
In this sense, it was explained how the methodology will be to gradually eliminate withholding taxes over 10 years. First, get out of regional economies and processed foods without withholdings. So for meat and dairy, it would be in three years, at a rate of 3 points a year. For corn and wheat, in 5-6 years, the goal is to completely eliminate the rate. And finally, to 10 years, reducing by 3 points per year, the soybean complex, which is today the crop most affected by this tax.
This work was presented after loss of parliamentary status of the bill that has encouraged investments in the sector.
The economic benefits
The implementation of the Federal Agro-industrial Plan 2023-2033 it would have economic, social and fiscal effects significant and would allow the development of the bioeconomy throughout the country.
Ramiro Costa, director of economic studies at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, stressed that the plan allows for the generation of 900,000 new jobs, 40,000 million dollars more exports and a fixed capital investment of $16,000 million.
Also, the reduction ofThe tax burden implicit in the implementation of the plan would be more than offset by the increase in production and exports, which would guarantee the nation state not to receive lower tax revenues during the 10 years it lasts. Its implementation would make it possible to achieve a balance between reducing the tax burden and increasing tax collection, which would contribute to sustainable development and economic growth in Argentina.
For his part, Julio Calzada, Director of Economic Studies of the Rosario Stock Exchange, expressed the relevance of the measures that the Agro-industrial Plan would implement for the meat sector, where adding the items Cattle, pigs and chickens, theNational production could grow by 3.5 million tons and exports could generate foreign exchange of more than $8.5 trillion annually by 2033-2034, which would more than double current external sales in a short 10-year period.
The fishing sector could generate an additional $158 million in exports with nearly 2,400 new jobs. I also underline the strong growth that the regional economies will show in 10 years. The 30 manufacturing complexes, including milk, cotton, rice, egg, wine and sunflower, among others, could export nearly $12 billion more than today and generate nearly 440,000 new jobs.
The pillars of the plan
The president of CONINAGRO, Elbio Laucirica, presented the Productive Development Pillar and underlined the need for investment incentive measures, the need for a law on agricultural risk and climate change, the implementation of an incentive scheme for the adoption of good agricultural practices and services ecosystems, ensuring unrestricted access to domestic services and imported inputs, and the unification of health standards nationwide. In turn, he underlined the negative effects of the drought on the various productions and the need to take into account the CAA’s proposals.
Patrizia Calderón, president of the Argentine Olive Federation (FOA), presented the pillar for export development. He raised the proposal of a common strategy for the promotion of trade and international negotiations to open markets, where the development of logistics hubs, trade missions and international fairs is proposed; greater positioning of the Country brand and Geographical Indications. He placed particular emphasis on MERCOSUR’s international agenda, which urgently needs to be revitalized to gain greater market access and defend our products. He indicated that it is necessary to increase the number of Agricultural Councils in the world.
Finally, Patricia Calderón considered that “if we want to open markets or maintain the current ones, then certifications for sustainable management (both social and environmental) become an essential element for the differentiation of Argentine products in international markets”.
For his part, Peter Vigneau, president of MAIZAR, presented the Pillar of Food Security and Productive and Social Integration, which was developed together with some organizations that are part of the Union of People’s Economy Workers (UTEP) and other related organizations framed in the so-called Agrifood Table. He dwelt on the fact that the social subject is family farming and local agri-food SMEs, where it was agreed to try to outline a policy of productive and social integration (local offer) based on the production and marketing of various and healthy foods by farmers, family members and local agro-industries. At the same time, try to improve the quality, variety and prices accessed by local consumers by reducing the import of food from other areas and regions of the country.
On the other hand, the president of the Argentine Federation of the Milling Industry (FAIM), Diego Cifarelli, developed the main aspects of the export and logistics infrastructure proposals. It refers to a multi-year national program proposal for road and railway infrastructure works which includes a plan for the improvement of rural roads, routes and national and provincial highways and access to agro-industrial complexes for export. In turn, it raised the proposal to regularize the direct concession and promote a timely tender for the dredging and signaling services of the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, paying the fees directly to the service providers, which will result in a substantial decrease of the cost of river transport in the Via Navigabile.
Then, Claudia Peirano, Executive Director of the Argentine Forestry Association (AFOA), presented the proposals for sustainability, education and inclusive and equitable development. He underlined the importance of promoting a Law on Minimum Budgets for Territorial Planning (OT), which allows for an overview of the productive panorama.
In the Natural Resources and Environment section, Claudia Peirano explained that the CAA urges the promotion of solutions based on science and nature and incentives for their adoption that contribute to the energy transition and reduce dependence on fossils (Bill), to the production transition that allows the reduction of the carbon footprint and carbon neutrality by 2050 in a sustainable and inclusive way.
In terms of labor equity, the CAA proposes the adoption of the Guide to Good Labor Practices to promote the inclusion of women in the agro-industrial sector (GBPL) and promote the development of a baseline for the inclusion of women in the employment and decision-making in rural production units and in the sector value chain and to monitor the main indicators of inclusion and equity of women’s participation in the sector in the period 2023-2033.
Next, Alfred Pasiro, Director General of the Argentine Seed Association (ASA), reported on the Pillar of Technological Innovation and highlighted the CAA’s proposals regarding new regulations and control systems of intellectual property in autogamous species and data protection and ownership generated by and for the sector. Subsequently, he presented the proposals to define the priority research lines for the development of scientific progress in the various research centers and institutes, in biotechnology, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies; bioenergy; climate change; sustainability applied to soil, water and biodiversity management; and circular economy. Finally, Alfredo Paseyro presented the CAA’s proposals to favor the consolidation of the growth of AgTechs.
Source: Clarin
