1. The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill to promote healthy eating (front labelling)

On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation returned to session after three months and dealt with a large number of bills that were pending discussion. One of them was the Front Labeling bill, which had been approved in the Senate in 2020 and establishes the inclusion of warning seals on processed and ultra-processed products with excess of critical nutrients (saturated fats, sodium, sugar and calories). The bill received 200 positive votes against 22 negative votes and 16 abstentions; the PRO bloc constituted the majority of these rejections. On the other hand, the lower house also gave half approval to the Tax Relief Law which seeks to waive debts of non-profit entities, including firefighters, cooperatives, micro-enterprises, among others. The Senate, for its part, met face-to-face Thursday, and debated a series of projects related to the modification of the Indigenous Territorial Emergency Law, the update of the non-taxable minimum of the personal property tax, and the tax relief that had been approved by the Lower House two days earlier.

La Nación: La Cámara de Diputados convirtió en ley el etiquetado frontal de alimentos

2. The national government and the provinces agreed on price control in their territories

The Secretary of Domestic Trade, Roberto Feletti, announced in a press conference the agreement between President Alberto Fernández and the governors to comply with Resolution 1050/2021, which sets maximum prices for 1,432 mass consumption products for 90 days. In this regard, the Secretary of Provinces, Silvina Batakis, who also participated in the conference, highlighted that “all the governors” decided to give their “support”, with the exception of the governors of Mendoza, Rodolfo Suárez, and of the City of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.

Clarín: Roberto Feletti defendió ante los gobernadores el congelamiento de precios y anunció un “boom de consumo”

3. The Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development presented the draft law on packaging management

On Thursday morning, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Juan Cabandié, together with the head of the Frente de Todos block of deputies, Máximo Kirchner, presented the bill on “Integral Management of Containers, Extended Producer Responsibility and Inclusion of Recycling Workers”, whose objective is to promote the management of containers throughout the national territory, prevent and reduce their impact on the environment and people’s health, and the responsibility of the producers in the management. Cabandié assured that the initiative “comes to promote an activity that will generate employment and will give dignity to the recyclers workers”. In turn, Kirchner indicated that it is necessary that “the private sector understands the importance of its participation and responsibility in this and in the production of containers”. The bill aims at charging a fee of a maximum of 3%, the purpose of which is a fund to be managed by the Ministry in order to guarantee the traceability of the containers.

Télam: Cabandié presentó un proyecto que busca una gestión ecológica de los envases

4. President Alberto Fernández arrived in Rome to attend the G20 summit

President Alberto Fernández arrived this Friday in Rome, Italy, to participate in the 16th G-20 Summit. The Argentine head of state will seek to return to the issue of the restructuring of the debt of middle-income countries, in the midst of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Along the same lines, the President intended to take this opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, whose support is of paramount importance to reach a favorable agreement. However, the meeting will not take place, although a meeting with Kristalina Georgieva, director of the IMF, is planned. It should be noted that this very week, the US ambassador appointed for Argentina, Marc Stanley, promised to support the country in the negotiation, but demanded a solid macroeconomic plan. After the G20, the President will head to Glasgow, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) will take place.

5. The national government announced that it will begin to apply a third dose against COVID-19

On Tuesday morning, the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, confirmed that third doses will be given to immunosuppressed people over 3 years of age who have received the primary scheme with any of the available vaccines and also to people over 50 years of age who have been inoculated with Sinopharm. This third injection will be aimed at containing the advance of the Delta variant, which is already a majority in districts such as the province of Buenos Aires. At the same time, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Matías Lammens, announced that tourists over 18 years of age will be exempted from the PCR test which was required seven days after their arrival in the country. In addition to this relaxation, Resolution 64 of the Ministry of Transportation, dated March 2020, which restricted the number of passengers in urban, suburban and regional automobile and railway passenger transportation under national jurisdiction, has been repealed; this means that there will no longer be any limitations on the use of public transportation beyond suggestions and recommendations to continue taking precautions.

Infobae: Aplicarán una tercera dosis a los mayores de 50 años que fueron vacunados con Sinopharm y a los inmunocomprometidos de cualquier edad
Clarín: El Gobierno eliminó las restricciones a la cantidad de pasajeros en el transporte público