International prices down and withholdings.

One of the factors in the decline in the national average is that international prices continued to decline in 2020 due to the enormous supply that increases year by year provided by countries such as Peru, Chile, South Africa, Colombia and Ecuador, which increase their supply every year production unlike Argentina, which has been decreasing year after year since 2008 (then there were 4.750 and in 2020 there were only 2.400 hectares).

Although withholdings were removed at the end of the year, as all blueberry shipments were made through December, to this day growers are still paying withholdings as if nothing had happened. The repeal of withholdings will only come into effect for the sector in this 2021 campaign.

Domestic market and export.

This year sales in the domestic market grew a lot and important volumes were destined to the industry since being able to export carries a cost and an enormous financial effort that many producers could not face, in addition to the Argentine producer suffering from a great lack of competitiveness with respect to from other countries.

The main export destinations are still the United States 65%, Europe 25%, and the rest to Asian countries.

In recent years we have entered Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Lithuania and China.

The sector, however, could not sustain China due to its tariffs on Argentine fruit. Now it is at 15% for the income of Argentine fruit, while the other countries pay 0%. That 15% is still a very high tariff, although it brings us closer to that market that has enormous consumption.

Difficulties.

Microeconomics cannot solve the enormous macroeconomic imbalances that the country is experiencing. Our production lasts for 10, 20 or 30 years. Under these conditions it is very difficult to work and survive without stability. There are no measures that favor investment, in other competing countries they have accelerated amortization of the plants they replace and the investments they make. It is known that without a reinvestment of at least 15% per year, it cannot be sustainable and sustainable over time, and this is not happening in Argentine fruit growing.

Pending measures.

We need a labor regulatory framework more appropriate to the activity with intensive labor with temporary contracts that fruit crops have, both for harvesting and for the incorporation of improvements in the plantations.

We have especially asked this Government and the previous one that any person who wanted to register to work maintain the social plans that they charge, without making modifications that put at risk the collection of these basic emergency sustenance. When moving from one plan to another, they remain unpaid for a certain amount of time and that means an insurmountable obstacle.

What one exports is without VAT, but the purchases of inputs are with VAT, and there a VAT recovery process is generated for which 8% of the amount of VAT paid to suppliers must be spent to manage that return, which is he manages to collect in pesos a year and a half later, with the devaluation of a year and a half of inflation. When we collect it, we have lost 60% of what we paid at the time. This takes away our solvency, with which a company with a positive balance is left without cash to pay its daily obligations.

Finally, we ask that it be allowed to increase the withholdings of social charges when contractors are paid and enter them directly into the AFIP or go to Union Co-Responsibility Agreements in which each kilo of fruit that is sold in the export market or domestic market pays an amount as a substitute rate, this rate replaces the payment of the social burden and is received by Anses through AFIP and distributes it by paying each worker avoiding extra VAT costs in the contractor's billing and unnecessary intermediation of money owed go straight to Anses. Thus, all the kilos that are sold in the domestic market or that are exported pay this benefit equally.

The claim for the credits is still valid: the pre-financing of exports that allows us to solve the enormous increase in costs that we have before the harvest, which is where the great cost of the year is, and that is paid as the export amounts are coming in. This would be of great use to producers. (I: Alejandro Pannunzio)