The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Nation reported that from a joint work with the Ministry of Agriculture of India, the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the health agencies of both countries, an agreement was reached that will allow Argentina export yerba mate for human consumption.
The government of India published in the Gazzete (official gazette) that the access of Ilex paraguariensis (Yerba mate) from Argentina becomes effective after having established the sanitary conditions for its entry. It should be noted that Argentina is the first to gain access for this product to India.
The decision of the Indian government comes after a long negotiation started with the request of Argentina so that the yerba can enter the Indian market and thus continue promoting its development. This was expressed by Minister Basterra to his Indian counterpart Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, during their first ministerial meeting held in November 2020, preceded by the meeting of the Joint Trade Committee between Argentina and India in October.
It is worth noting that the national agricultural portfolio, through its technical teams and Senasa, has been working with the objective of opening new markets for regional economies such as yerba mate, taking into account the opportunities that this generates for the sector.
Likewise, through the support of the National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM), the producers of Argentine yerba mate have been actively promoting the consumption of this product in India. The preference for consuming natural and healthier products are especially high in metropolitan cities in India or in regions where the consumption of tea without milk is higher than the national average.
Yerba mate, in its presentation in small containers (cooked mate), is gaining popularity as a drink with healthy benefits such as a powerful antioxidant and energy drink. Argentina exported 40,694 tons of yerba mate in 2020, which was worth 84 million dollars. The main destination is Syria, which last year accounted for 76% of sales, followed by Chile and the European Union. ■