EC TO OFFER ARGENTINA GRAIN SALE COMPENSATION
The European Community is to offer
Argentina compensation for its loss of maize and sorghum
exports to Spain following Spain's accession to the EC, EC
sources said.
    They said the offer will be made next week in Geneva,
headquarters of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), and will also involve products other than cereals. They
gave no further details.
    Argentine exports of sorghum to Spain fell to zero last
year from 300,000 tonnes in 1985, while maize sales fell to
15,000 tonnes from 994,000, official EC statistics show.
    The sources noted that an agreement between the EC and the
U.S. guarantees special access to the Spanish market for two
mln tonnes of non-EC maize and 300,000 tonnes of sorghum each
year for the next four years.
    But they said various details of this accord will tend to
inhibit imports from Argentina.
    These include a provision for reduction of the amounts if
Spain imports cereals substitutes, and the EC's plan to import
the special maize and sorghum on a regular monthly basis.
Argentina tends to have exportable quantities only three or
four times a year.
 Reuter
