Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Food producers responded to government exhortations to respond to the alimentary crisis by asking for a joint approach, arguing that both sides faced a problem complicated by global factors.
Fedeagro president Gustavo Moreno called for the government and producers to set up a "situation room" to monitor domestic production. But he emphasized that account had to be taken of developments in the outside world. In particular, he pointed to the rise in world prices for cereals such as corn. Moreno said the measures should have been taken sooner, and he claimed they wouldn't make much difference to farmers at this stage of the season. Fedeagro calculated that ITF had boosted "direct production costs" by 4.5 percent.
As a country that's estimated to import at least half of its food needs, Venezuela is vulnerable to events in far-flung parts of the global food market -- in this case, the impact of rapidly rising demand in Asian countries.
Recent measures announced by President Hugo Chavez in response to rising inflation and persistent shortages of some key foodstuffs include eliminating the 1.5 percent tax on financial transactions (ITF) and a new floor of $50,000 for hard currency permits, below which less documentation will be required.
Officials claim that the package should bring food prices down, and that controls will remain in force. On Wednesday, Agriculture and Land Minister Elias Jaua said there would be no increase in coffee prices until the figures for the new harvest were in. Jaua also repeated warnings that "speculation" would not be tolerated -- and he said the price for long-life milk might be put back under official controls if there was hoarding.
The dairy industry chamber, Cavelacteos, responded to this by insisting there was no excess in milk supply. Measures now being taken would not produce results for "a minimum of eight to 10 years," warned Cavelacteos president Teresa Lopez.
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