Yesterday, producers from the regions of Cerro Punta and Boquete, in western Panama, stopped sending legumes to the capital and the rest of the country to protest potato and onion imports, as they are affecting the placement of the domestic onions and potatoes in the local market.
The government rejected the measure because it was inconvenient for consumers and for producers, and stated that the surplus domestic production of potatoes and onions could be placed in the local market.
"The protest began at five o'clock (10:00 GMT) on Wednesday, and we are not going to send legumes at the national level," said Javier Pitti, a member of the Association of Producers from Tierras Altas.
He also said that, given the import of these products, there was no place in the local market for the national onion and potato production so it was going to waste in the cellars.
"We have a surplus of 30,000 quintals of potatoes. The potato harvest from six months ago is already starting to rot, but all the market fridges are full of imported potatoes. The same thing happens with the onion, but with an 87,000-quintal surplus. The national product has been left out of the Panamanian consumer's table," said Pitti.
Augusto Jimenez, a producer from Tierras Altas, told the local media that, among other things, they demanded the rule that prevented the entry of onions that had been harvested more than 90 days before be applied.
They also requested the reactivation of the committee of phytosanitary analysis chaired by the Ministry of Agricultural Development so that the parameters of import protocols can be established.
The area of Tierras Altas in the province of Chiriqui is currently the largest producer of food in the country.
The Minister of Agricultural Development, Jorge Arango, said on Wednesday that there was a surplus of potatoes and onions because the country was producing more.
Arango stated that the entire surplus, which isn't rotting, as some producers have claimed, would be sold. He also asked producers recognized the efforts made by the government to balance the local food market.
The Executive branch of the government has implemented measures, such as increasing import tariffs, monitoring compliance of requirement, and having customs do everything possible to avoid subsidized products from entering the country.
He said the producers' protest of not sending legumes to the capital and the rest of the country went against everything they were trying to do because importers would supply the now empty market with foreign products.
"Pittí knows what we're doing. It's very frustrating that they say we haven't done anything," said Arango, who added that he had spent the entire last Friday with the producers of Tierras Altas and that he was never told they would protest this week.
Last September, producers from Chiriqui gave away nearly 2,300 kilos of onions to protest the excessive onion imports that the government had allowed at harvest time.
