“They ruined our Monday saleone of the strongest days for us”, shouted the vendors after the raid by the police and AFIP customs on the Central Market.
Twenty official vans drove into the Market on Monday to check only ten stalls – 1.1% of the over 800 fruit and vegetable stalls on the property. Although it was a one-off move, the appearance of suit-wearing Customs/AFIP officers was enough to dissuade buyers, who often don’t have what it takes.
“They ruined our sale. And the whole verse was just to say “we’re doing something about inflation””says Tuesday morning, friend of the middle, one of the beach workers and that like all the vendors he spoke to clarion, prefers anonymity.
The official controls tried to verify the operations that some importers were carrying out and which would have made food prices more expensive. They took place as part of the measures launched on Sunday by Minister Sergio Massa and with which he intends to counter the irrefutable inflation of 8.4% in April, which already leaves a minimum close to 9% for this month. There was no official information on the results of these checks.
The choice of the Central Market for this operation aroused surprise. The thing is only 5% of the fruit and vegetables sold on that farm are imported. And with the exception of the banana, which is relevant in the household basket, the rest of the imported products have a high price and have no impact on the consumer price index.
Among the imported products, the banana stands out. Only 15% of the 600,000 tons which are consumed every year in Argentina is produced in the country. In the Market there are also avocados, kiwis, pineapples and watermelons that arrive from abroad.
And while you can eventually find imported potatoes and onions, that’s a very small volume. “No more than 0.1%,” says one of the largest manufacturers in the industry. “It makes no sense to import potatoes, tomatoes or onions, because they are more expensive abroad than here”holds.
“For prices to go down, the government would have to implement policies for a more local production. Give them incentives, credits, subsidies so they can expand,” says one of the producers. “Local banana production could grow with these incentives.”
There is little activity on Tuesday mornings: the main days in the Central Market are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Added to the effect of the drop in consumption are i few incentives that neighborhood greengrocers find today when they go to the Tapiales property.
Insecurity, lack of cleanliness and demands for “tolls” incoming or outgoing discourage purchases and make many greengrocers prefer to pay more but go to safer markets.
Sellers dissociate themselves from price increases. “The increases are seasonal. The leap in the tomato, which increases by 64% in one month and decreases the following month, cannot be put on the same level as the increase in petrol, which never goes back once it rises.“says one of the producers who comes to Tapiales every morning to restock his stall.
Right away, street vendors charge for cost increases they face, first of all the tariffs that increase with the renewal of the contracts. “There are street vendors who are up 378%. So depending on when the contract was signed, there are street vendors who pay a $120,000 fee and another one who pays $340,000.”
Added to this are the increases in the costs of trucks, spare parts and fuel. “We also have to end up paying blue dollar for roofing,” chew a producer.
From crisis to crisis
“The market’s headlessness directly affects consumer prices. The greengrocer can’t come to buy and we have plenty of goods”they add.
The Central Market is tripartite: It is managed by the Nation, the Province of Buenos Aires and the CABA. The guide is not without pitfalls. At the beginning of Alberto Fernández’s government, Nahuel Devalle, linked to the Union of Workers of the Land (UTT), led by Juan Grabois, was elected president. That management ended after a flurry of criticism and now Aníbal Stella, linked to the Peronism of La Matanza, appears as president.
The traditional producers, who have been on the property since it was inaugurated by Raul Alfonsín nearly 40 years ago, are ruthless with Devalle’s management. “As head of UTT, he was disqualified from being in charge of the market, because you can’t be a trader and an official at the same time. But they still appointed him and what he did was give priority to agroecological producerswho came often, bought our traditional production to sell it as organic at prices three times higher”, says one of the sellers.
On the other hand, they accuse the peddlers of being part of a “establishment” which opposed all the changes that Devalle wanted to promote in favor of small producers.
“We have gone through crises, but never like this”, says one of the historic producers. And despite being closer to the postulates of Together for Change than to those of the Frente de Todos, save the management of Guillermo Moreno at the head of the Market. “At least he knew about the subject and you could talk to him. Now none of that is possible.”
AQ
Source: Clarin
