<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2003 By: David Coleman

Venezuelan Consumer Protection Agency (INDECU) officials have swooped on an illegal storage unit in southwestern Apure State to seize some 40,000 tonnes of illegally hoarded frozen chickens withheld from by shadowy speculators despite widespread food shortages across sections of the country.  INDECU regional coordinator Ali Uvieda says the legally seized property will be sold at public auction and remaining funds ... less expenses and heavy fines ... will be held in escrow pending a full-blown tax investigation of the businessmen involved in the illegal hoarding.

State news agency VENPRES reports that a similar seizure recently took place in Tejerias (Aragua State) in cooperation with units of the National Guard (GN) to seize and sell 60,000 tonnes of hoarded foodstuffs.

INDECU had earlier issued warnings to Venezuelan cold storage company owners to put merchandise on the market or else... Where they have refused to comply with the law or sought to bribe officials, immediate action has been taken with requisite seize & sell court orders.  The action has caused furore among wealthier members of Venezuela's opposition who see the INDECU operations as repressive government action against what they claim to be free trade principles and private property.

Against widespread opposition claims of food shortages across the country, INDECU inspectors are discovering illegal hoards of foodstuffs on a daily basis.  Under Ministry of Production & Commerce (MPC) regulations, the owners are required to explain why their goods are not put on the market and if no distribution agreement is reached, a court application is made for seizures which are always executed under the inspection of a court-appointed officer and, where necessary, with the enforcement assistance of the GN.

Special attention is being given to storage units close to the capital, Caracas, where large amounts of generic medicines are alleged to have been hoarded pending expected price increases.  The Federation of Pharmacies alleges that shortages in basic medicines are the result of strict foreign exchange regulations but, already, specialist inspectors have turned up quantities of much-needed medicines for chronic illnesses like blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, hormone treatments, anti-allergy and pediatric conditions which are selling at premium on a sophisticated black market.

Meanwhile, the Chavez Frias government has approved a budget of 3 billion bolivares to complete the decentralization of INDECU to southwestern Merida State where regional coordinator Jesus Briceno says he will be able to concentrate resources on cross-border smuggling operations from Colombia.  Some 400 inspectors are to be taken on nationwide within the next month to complete a process headed by nine regional directors.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Organization of American States (OAS)  general secretary, Cesar Gaviria says he has come to the conclusion that it's a little too early to announce the signing of an agreement between the government and the opposition. 

Making the remark after meeting Venezuelan Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, Gaviria preferred to keep a low-key approach to solving the problem of the recall referendum.

"We are in the process of discussion with the Vice President and Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz representing the government in the negotiations trying to agree to a commitment text that would allow us to leave behind some topics." 

Vice President Rangel has reaffirmed that the government has the" best will in the world" to sign an agreement after which negotiations should be transferred to the National Assembly. "Once an agreement has been signed, we believe it's time to end negotiations and transfer all matters concerning dialog to the National Assembly." 

Rangel has let it be known that the text has been reformulated and that the government will only accept the figure of facilitator between the two sides. 

Both Rangel and Gaviria add that they hope the two sides will meet sometime today.

<a href=www.business-standard.com>business-standard.com Our Regional Bureau in Mumbai Published : May 23, 2003

Several Latin American countries evinced keen interest in sourcing ayurvedic products and bulk drugs from India, at the second Indo-Latin American pharma meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

Rumed Pharmaceuticals (Paraguay) director Rene Zotti said his company also focused on natural remedies and herbal products and was looking for outsourcing Indian products.

Zotti said his company was also keen on sourcing bulk drugs such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, cardiac and oncological drugs and vaccines as the disease pattern in India and the northern region of Latin America were quite similar.

Alfredo Cifuentes Schulz, international trade head of the US $60-million Laboratorios Maver Ltda of Chile, said his company was also looking for herbal products.

CII Latin American Committee chairman Madhur Bajaj said “Trade between Latin America and India has crossed US $2.5 billion in 2001-02.

A series of policies aimed at boosting Indian exports to the region and the growth of the pharmaceutical market in the top seven Latin American countries by almost 50 per cent from US $20 billion in 2000-01 to US $29 billion in 2001-02, provide a good opportunity to the Indian pharmaceutical industry.”

CII project consultant Varunesh Tuli said in 2002, Latin America’s pharmaceutical market was worth US $16 billion, nearly 4.5 per cent of the global pharma market.

Mexico, with a US $6 billion market, topped the list, recording a nine per cent growth, he said.

“Even per capita consumption figures are high Argentina leads the list with US $115 (pre-devaluation of its currency) followed by Chile at US $53. India’s per capita consumption stands at just US $3. Cardio vascular drugs will constitute the bulk of the demand as there is a three-fold increase in death caused by cardio vascular diseases,” he said.

Tuli said there were no entry barriers in Argentina and Brazil. He stressed the need for entering into referential Trade Agreements, especially with the Mercosur belt comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Ivax Corporation (Mexico) business development director Pedro Morfin called for better relations between governments of India and Latin American countries for free trade agreements in the pharma sector.

Maria Isabel Puerta Correa, purchase chief of Laboritorios Ecar (Columbia), said he was looking for antibiotics, oral medication, injectibles and ophthalmic solutions.

The meet was attended by pharma majors from Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Representatives of companies such as Zentex (Chile) and Ivax Corporation (Mexico) were here to explore opportunities of forging alliances with Indian companies.

More than 70 companies including Nicholas Piramal, Cadila and RPG Lifesciences represented India.

Reuters, 05.22.03, 1:45 PM ET By Silene Ramirez

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 22 (Forbes-Reuters) - Venezuela's government, facing a barrage of complaints that tight foreign exchange controls are throttling the economy, said on Thursday it was correcting faults in the currency regime to speed up the allocation of dollars for essential imports.

The controls were introduced more than three months ago in Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Private importers and exporters have said the painfully slow allocation of dollars by the state currency board Cadivi is strangling business activity, disrupting manufacturing and creating shortages in an economy that needs hard currency to import around 60 percent of its needs.

Business leaders say the dollar drought is threatening to ruin many companies. They accuse leftist President Hugo Chavez of using the controls in a political vendetta to punish firms that supported a crippling opposition strike against him in December and January.

In an interview on Thursday with state television, Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega acknowledged there had been problems in operating the foreign exchange controls.

"What we're talking about is improving the operation of the system, which has had faults and we have to admit that. The necessary decisions are being taken," Nobrega said.

He added the government had decided this week to reduce Cadivi's role, making it a "technical office" and transferring regulatory and decision-making powers to the cabinet.

But there were questions about whether the reforms would really streamline the system. Opponents of the currency curbs had warned the government from the start they would create bureaucratic bottlenecks and opportunities for corruption.

The complex procedures for companies to obtain dollars were also being revised, Nobrega said.

"What needs to be done at this stage is to unblock the whole issue of imports," he added.

THREAT OF SHORTAGES

Cadivi, headed by a retired military officer who is a political ally of Chavez, has so far only handed over a meager $12 million for imports and other priority purposes.

Importers, exporters and retailers say they are operating with dwindling inventories and warn the country faces shortages of essential food items and other goods unless the allocation of dollars is speeded up. The government says it is importing basic foodstuffs, such as flour and cooking oil, to prevent shortages from occurring.

Nobrega said the government had set an initial target of approving in a week pending requests from companies for dollars totalling $267 million.

Since the curbs were introduced, total requests amounting to only $205 million have been approved by Cadivi. This compares with the $40 million to $60 million the Central Bank had previously released into the economy every day when normal currency trading was permitted.

Former paratrooper Chavez, who survived a brief coup last year, decreed the draconian currency controls to halt heavy capital flight and a sharp slide in the bolivar currency triggered by the grueling two-month opposition strike.

The strike, which failed to force Chavez to resign and call early elections, slashed Venezuela's oil output but ouput has now recovered to pre-stoppage levels.

Nevertheless, Venezuela is suffering its worst recession in recent history and inflation and unemployment are rising.

Nobrega said the currency controls would not be lifted in the short-term. He added they would remain in place until the political atmosphere was calmer, government oil income was stabilized and permanent mechanisms were set up to control speculative capital movements.