Analysis of the Competitiveness in the Agri-food sector: The case of Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries are among global leaders in production exports of agricultural fisheries commodities, accounting for 15% world’s average agri-food export from 1995 to 2019. With rising market competitiveness, considering sector, it is important assess if region can compete against other rivals, what products. Accounting regional potential economic power, remarkable food expansion, this paper explored LAC trade patterns competitiveness through analysis Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, its modifications - SRCA (Symmetric Advantage), RTA (Relative Trade Advantage, RC (Revealed Competitiveness) sector period 1995-2019. This contributes literature by presenting characteristics American developing countries, which be an instrument decision-makers policy. Throughout research period, results indicated that Brazil, Argentina, Mexico were TOP exporters LAC. The highest RCA, SRCA, found Guatemala, whereas greatest was Argentina. At product level analysis, oil seeds oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, straw fodder (HS12) most exported items at 2-digit level. Fruit nuts, edible; peel citrus fruit melons (HS08) had worldwide market, with indices, coffee, tea, mate, spices (HS9) BRCA values. evidence suggests 10 LAC, all indices said relatively stable, survival rates do not persist over time.