Brazil's Government may restrict imports of some Argentine horticultural products such as apples and onions, in response to the trade barriers it faces with its neighbor for around 577 products, website Interconomia.com reported.

The Brazilian Government has sent a letter to Argentine authorities outlining the problem, stating products were not receiving administrative licenses within the 60-day period stipulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the story reported.

Argentina's Minister of Industry Débora Giorgi sent a letter to Brazilian counterpart Fernando Pimentel, outlining commercial defense, trade monitoring and customs investigations were part of the whole agreement with the WTO and did not target any particular country, newspaper Los Andes reported.

Giorgi then questioned Pimentel about the difficulty of exporting olive oil to Brazil, in addition to the inability to export citrus fruit across the border due to phytosanitary requirements introduced in 2009, website ElArgentino.com reported.

Pimentel has since called for a constructive dialogue for bilateral trade between the two countries.

Brazil currently has import barriers for cars, spare parts and tires, while for some time Argentine customs have put up barriers for agricultural equipment and electronic products from Brazil.

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