Primero de Junio

June 1, 2010 brings with it two important events:

1) My youngest brother, Robbie, has a very important birthday, his 21st - Happy Birthday!!!! This is awesome because we can finally go out and grab a drink together. This is not quite as awesome because it means that my youngest brother is 21 and I am way older than 21.

2) Argentina's ban on imported goods is supposed to begin today. Although, there is new hope on the importing foreign goods front. If you remember from my Argentine import ban post, on May 6 Guillermo Moreno, the Domestic Trade Secretary, announced that as of June 1, 2010 Argentina would cease to import all foods that have an Argentine alternative. The examples included Brazilian sweetcorn, Russian vodka, French cheese and Swiss chocolate, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. Consider Argentina an importer/exporter that has decided to focus on the exporting. While I was disappointed to hear that my beloved Philly Cream Cheese and French Brie were a short lived luxury, what I didn't anticipate was the backlash that the effected countries may have on this decision. The European Commission along with Brazil has now voiced their strong objections to the decision - to the point of threatening to reciprocate actions if the decision is enacted. It would seem that moving forward with the import ban would be like shooting the Argentine export business in the foot. An interesting turn of events, and one the will hopefully keep my familiar products on the shelves. We shall see what happens, my only prediction is that things will probably not progress very quickly, they hardly ever do when these decisions are involved.