Leather-industry organisations in Argentina have issued a joint statement to express concern about measures recently put into place by the government. By Leatherbiz.

Until now, Argentinean meat companies were under obligation to keep a proportion of domestic hides on home soil for use in the domestic leather value chain.

The government has decided to lift that restriction, causing concern among leather-industry bodies that their member companies will lose out, will face a shortage of raw material. They said this would have a detrimental effect on a value chain that sustains thousands of jobs in Argentina.

According to the joint statement, the government has based its decision on inaccurate information. This included a false picture of the control over hide supply that local leather manufacturers exercise. The government also said restrictions on exports of hides meant higher meat prices for Argentinean consumers.

Signatories of the joint statement said these arguments were without foundation, pointing out that 50% of the material had been going for export as wet-salted hides. They also said the government had incorrectly assumed hides to represent 5% of the overall value of an animal going to slaughter. They said the true figure was between 0.8% and 1.5%.

Buenos Aires tanning industry association ACUBA, national association of footwear industry suppliers CAIPAC, national tanning industry association CICA, leathergoods manufacturers’ association CIMA, and footwear industry association FAICA were the signatories of the joint statement.