The Secretary for International Economic Relations, Jorge Neme, held a meeting today with the new Brazilian ambassador to Buenos Aires, Reinaldo José de Almeida Salgado, to discuss matters related to the bilateral and MERCOSUR agenda. They agreed on the importance of MERCOSUR for both countries and on the need to combine their efforts to consolidate and enhance the integration process in a complex regional and international context resulting from the COVID-19 health crisis and its impact on the economies of our countries. The officials discussed the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of MERCOSUR next 26 March and acknowledged that the path followed has been very fruitful for MERCOSUR Member States in the commercial, political, social, and cooperation areas, among others. Within this framework, they considered the priorities on the regional agenda and agreed to advance in the enhancement of the bloc in 2021 during the Presidencies Pro Tempore of MERCOSUR to be held by Argentina and Brazil in the first and second half of the year respectively. On the other hand, the discussion of the bilateral agenda included issues related to market access, non-automatic licenses and phytosanitary matters. Ambassador Salgado explained the reasons for the recent adoption of measures to apply 0% tariff to the import of wheat for a quota of 750,000 tons, noting that this is intended to comply with the commitments assumed by Brazil within the multilateral framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that this is consistent with MERCOSUR regulations. Argentine exports will not be affected by these measures. It is worth noting that, in connection with the same issue, the Argentine ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, had a meeting with ambassador Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva, the Secretary for Bilateral and International Relations with the Americas of Itamaraty, who explained the reason for the decision and confirmed that Argentina will continue to be Brazil’s main wheat supplier of Brazil, accounting for over 80% of Brazil’s cereal imports. Ambassador Scioli was also in touch with the authorities of Abitrigo, the entity that brings together the milling industry in Brazil, who made similar comments. Furthermore, they valued the importance of maintaining regular dialogue between the authorities of both countries in the various Government departments in order to foster synergies to help mitigate the negative effects of the health crisis on the regional economy.
