Argentina: Industry calls for greater control over agrochemical imports from China

Local manufacturers of agrochemicals have requested the administration of Mauricio Macri in Argentina to establish non-automatic licenses for imports of agrochemical products, especially those coming from China. In recent years, up to a quarter of the agrochemical inputs used in the field were formulated in foreign countries. Against this backdrop, Argentinean companies have also requested equal health controls.

In the country, seven plants work on synthesizing the active principle, and there are over 120 plants producing formulations of agrochemicals, from small firms to major enterprises. The Argentine Chamber of Industries of Fertilizers and Agrochemicals (CIAFA) has made “every effort” to address the issue with the new national authorities, but without any positive effect. The manufacturers complain that the imports of these product have grown 44% in volume between 2011 and 2014 to reach a record 286 million liters/kilograms. Even though this figure dropped to 178 million in 2015, 30% growth is forecast for 2016 due to the elimination of all import barriers.

Considering the average of the last five-year period, imported agrochemicals have taken a 25% share of the market. CIAFA estimates that “through the changes of macroeconomic conditions, the flux of phytosanitary products from China will grow considerably, reaching a critical point that puts the Argentine industry at risk.”

A report sent to newspaper Clarín went further, noting, “Without new measures restricting imports from China, at least 40% of human resources will be compromised, which amounts to 2,400 people.” With these arguments, they requested the application of a regime of non-automatic licenses. “This measure was requested and presented to the Trade Secretariat, and 60 days have passed without a response,” the report read.

Local manufacturers have held several meetings with officials from the ministries of production and agrobusiness, the National Service of Food Quality and Health (Senasa), and other agencies. One of the most common complaints is that while they are subject to intense controls, the “ready-to-use” agrochemicals that come from foreign countries do not face any type of safety regulations. So they speak of two sorts of dumping: one strictly economic and another related to environmental issues.

In the first case, CIAFA pointed out that the agrochemicals entering the market from China were priced very low because the Asian country paid for reimbursements on exports (from 5 to 13%) and had very low insurance premiums, but even more so because productions costs there (for labor or energy) were significantly lower than in Argentina.