The board of directors of the National Yerba Mate Institute (INYM) was unable to set reference values for green leaf and yerba mate for the rough harvest period due to the repeated absences of directors representing the mills and the province of Corrientes. What is unprecedented is this Furthermore, there will be no decision from the Nation’s Ministry of Agriculture.as has happened every time the values have not been reached by consensus.
The Institute clarified that due to the absence of the aforementioned references, the pricing session could never be formally opened, which is why the information could not be sent to Agriculture to act as a composer. “ANDThe awarding of the prize is expected when there is no agreementbut this requires negotiation in the board of directors, which did not happen on this occasion,” explained Jonás Petterson, interim director of the INYM.
For the first time in more than two decades, Dryers and factories will not have to pay minimum prices to primary producers. In short, the industrial sector and Corrientes ended up endorsing the idea of deregulation of the sector promoted by the president Javier Milei He just landed at the Casa Rosada.
The Institute makes it known that the values of the raw material will continue to be treated by the INYM Costs and Statistics commission, which will provide herbalists with reference prices on a monthly basis, even if they will no longer be mandatory for the industrial sector.
Petterson argued that “it is the solution we have found to this unprecedented situation at the Institute. From now on we will analyze any changes to the internal regulations to see if we can avoid this happening again in the future.”
The current price for green leaves is 250 pesos per kilo placed in the dryer, but most industries are already paying between 350 and 370 pesos because they need to replenish grass supplies for the extensive drying process. Producer associations argue that the price should be above 500 pesos to be profitable.
The more than 12,000 yerba mate producers in Misiones look to the future with concern. To the lack of reference prices has now also been added the authorization from the National Government so that industries can import Canadian yerba maté from Paraguay and Brazil.
The most pessimistic predict a deep crisis, similar to that of the 1990s, when many abandoned aromatic herbs due to lack of profitability.
Corrientes, which has very few primary producers but very powerful factories, has played in tandem with the industrial sector so as not to leave reference prices for raw materials. The National Government also made its contribution by not appointing the president of the National Yerba Mate Institute, as required by the law that created it.
This acephaly and the decree that takes away the functions of the INYM were the arguments of Corrientes and the milling industry for not sitting down to negotiate the reference prices. The arguments of the secretary of Industry and Productive Development of the Ministry of Economy of the Nation, Juan Pazo, who during his stay in Misiones, stated that the decree deregulating the yerbatero market will only come into force when it is known regulation, something that hasn’t happened until now.
And the protection granted to a group of producers by a Misiones Civil judge, which put an end to the controversial DNU, was of no use, at least until the underlying issue was defined. Nothing was enough to avoid the bitter pill of this Thursday.
Source: Clarin
