The Agriculture Committee gave a favorable opinion to a project that seeks to promote the production of organic products in the country. Thus, the initiative -which has been approved by the Committees of Economy and Regional Development and Budget and Finance- is ready to be dealt with in the next session.

The Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies issued a favorable opinion on a bill to promote the production and processing of organic products, which seeks to provide stability and predictability to the sector for a period of 10 years, and which provides various tax benefits for small and medium-sized enterprises, so that it is now ready to be debated in the Chamber of Deputies.

Tuesday’s endorsement was achieved after the initiative was approved last Wednesday by the Committees of Economy and Regional Development and Budget and Finance.

The dispatch was supported by the Frente de Todos and by the legislators of the Interbloque Federal, while Juntos por el Cambio showed differences since the deputies of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) Jorge Vara -a leader who responds to the Governor of Corrientes Gustavo Valdez- and Pablo Cervi of Evolución Radical, supported the project.

On the contrary, the PRO legislators Germana Figueroa Casas and the Republican Ricardo López Murphy opposed it.

Ricardo Buryaile, deputy for the UCR from Formosa, said: “Climate change is here to stay, we must move forward to have security because nobody guarantees that in the next few years we will not have another climate risk like the one we are having. Argentina’s economy is in check and so is the chain of payments”.

Opening the debate this afternoon, the president of the Frente de Todos deputies’ block, Germán Martínez, said that “it is a good project that gathers political, social and productive consensuses, which will be very favorable mainly for our provinces and regional networks”. The deputy from Santa Fe also proposed to the opposition legislators: “If there are proposals to improve it, we can analyze it before the debate in the chamber”.

Congressman Jorge Vara said that “Argentina has a great potential, which is to produce in a sustainable environment. In regional economies, the environmental component is very important and generating opportunities is fundamental to be competitive”, the radical legislator explained that he supported the project “because it is an issue that is important for regional economies and that is why it is of interest for the provinces”.

Pedro Landa, General Director of OIA, also took part in the debate and said: “If we talk about the international context, let’s just ask ourselves why the United States allocates funds to organic production. The problem of regional economies, the settlement and employment in the interior, is serious, everyone is moving to the cities, we have migrations that are negative, the labor force disappears, and the organic goes in the opposite direction, is to incorporate people into production, in training them. Organic production changes people’s lives”. And he said: “Organic production is superavitable, it exports 600 or 700 million dollars. The more it grows, the more added value it gives to exports”.

WHAT DOES THE PROJECT SEEK?

The initiative presented by the deputy of the Frente de Todos, Ramiro Fernández Patri, establishes the creation of a scheme to promote the production and processing of organic products for a period of ten years, with tax benefits and a tax credit certificate, among other points.

The opinion signed by the Commission of Economy and Regional Development establishes that producers and processors -could be beneficiaries of the plan- who can prove at least one year of permanence and whose maximum invoice is within the parameters established for medium-sized companies.

The Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) is also empowered to create a promotional certificate for the purposes of the operation of this regime.

One of the key points regarding financing establishes that the Chief of Cabinet may make the necessary allocations to comply with the law for the amount equivalent to 12,500 modules, which currently amount to $100 million.

On the other hand, the ruling establishes that taxpayers declared bankrupt or those criminally prosecuted for common crimes may not be beneficiaries of this regime.

With respect to the tax benefits, the opinion establishes that the beneficiaries may “convert into a non-transferable tax credit voucher 50% of the total employer’s contributions that they have effectively paid as from their incorporation to the Register provided for in Article 11, on the payroll of labor employed in the production and processing of organic products for the social security systems and subsystems provided for in Law 24241”.

The beneficiaries may use such bonds for the cancellation of national taxes and their advances, as well as customs taxes, excluding income tax.

This bond may not be used to cancel debts prior to the effective incorporation of the beneficiary to the regime of the present law, nor for the cancellation of tax obligations derived from the substitute or joint and several liability of the taxpayers for third parties’ debts, or from their performance as withholding or perception people and, in no case, eventual balances in their favor will give rise to reimbursements or refunds by the Treasury.

They will also have a 50% reduction in the total amount of income tax determined in each fiscal year with respect to the productive and processing activities covered by this law, which will become operative for the fiscal years that begin after the date as from which they start to be subject to benefits.

See complete session in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HtwS1vSuOQ