CLARIN (Argentina)
BUENOS AIRES – Olives and its oil have been one of Argentina’s boom industries in recent years, but farmers are now begging the government for help to stay afloat, Clarin reports.
The olives produced in Argentina are mostly exported, and currency fluctuations have made the price paid for the olives abroad shrink in comparison to the costs of doing business in Argentina.
Fourteen companies have officially asked the government to help by changing the export regime to effectively subsidize olive exports, Clarin reports. The olive industry has already shed more than 6,000 jobs in the past year.
A law has been proposed that would change the tax structure for exports of table olives and olive oil, but even the law’s author says that the sector’s problems are very complicated, Clarin reports. Most of Argentina’s exported olives are consumed in Brazil, and the issue will have to be negotiated between the two countries.
