Argentine farmers will block bridge to halt imports of pork from Brazil

Argentine pork producers plan to block imports from Brazil beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, July 27, at the Rosário-Victoria bridge where most of the truck traffic from Brazil (as well as Chile) passes. The bridge is located some 350 kilometers north of Buenos Aires.

Cristian Roca, a union leader, says that only trucks with pork will be barred. “We are not trying to harm Mercosur trade. We just want to protect our own livelihood. We want the government to protect our producers,” he declared. “Argentina has always imported pork from Brazil. That’s a fact. But never as much as now. In the first six months of 2011, more than what was imported in all of 2010 has come in. Small farmers in Argentina want a limit on pork imports.”

Roca complains that a spike in imports from Brazil has driven prices down in Argentina where a kilo of pork dropped from 7 pesos (R$2.66) to 5 pesos (R$1.87). Omar Principe, another union leader, says they want to limit imports of pork from Brazil to 2,500 tons per month. “At the moment, Argentina is importing twice that,” he says. “Argentina imports 70% of the pork it consumes, so the importers are making money because Brazil has lower costs. But, Argentine consumers are not paying less for pork and the Argentine farmer gets no protection.”