RIO DE JANEIRO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil Thursday criticized Argentina's decision to restrict the import of Brazilian pork, threatening a tit-for-tat response.

In a radio interview aired Thursday, Brazil's Agriculture Minister Mendes Ribeiro said that if the restrictions, announced in February, remained in place, Brazil might take similar measures against Argentine exports.

"Negotiations are going well," he said, referring to a meeting between Brazil's ambassador Enio Cordeiro and Argentina's Agriculture Minister Norberto Yauhar.

"Our pork shipments need to be released, or we will start making it harder for Argentine products to enter Brazil and that's not good for either Brazil or Argentina, and it is not what President Dilma Rousseff wants," he said.

According to the minister, 3,000 tons of Brazilian pork are still held up at the border due to the restrictions.

"We want respectful and friendly relations with our neighbor, and for that, we want our pork trade to be re-established," Ribeiro said.

Brazil is the fourth largest producer and exporter of pork in the world. Nine percent of Brazil's pork exports went to Argentina before the imposition of the restrictions.

April 20, 2012

Source: Xinhua

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