In 2008, Federal Administration for Public Revenue of Argentina revised certificate of origin requirements for a long list of products with nonpreferential origin treatment, including motorcycles, textiles, implement steel products and household appliances through External Note 2 (which replaced External Note 13 from 2006).
In 2005, AFIP Resolution 1811 altered the import-export regime applied to couriers. It diminished the maximum value of express delivery service shipments from $3,000 to $1,000 for which simplified customs clearance procedures are applied. In addition, couriers now are considered importers and exporters of goods (not transporters), and also have to declare the tax identification codes of the sender and addressee. These regulations increase the cost not only for the courier, but also for users of courier services. The U.S. Government has raised these policies with the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services; the Directorate of Customs; and the Secretariat of Air Transport.
Import Prohibitions: used accumulators for metal recovery, sewage ooze for use as fertilizer, Ash from combustion furnaces, paper waste, unclassified and with high plastic content, private wireless telephony equipment, operating at a frequency above 1,880 MHz but no higher than 1,900 MHz To prevent harmful interference with duly authorized services, narcotics, precursors and psychotropic substances, medical materials that are obsolete, unusable or expired, substandard plastic materials and second-hand manufactures, used motorcycles and mopeds, retreads and used tyres of tariff headings 4012.10.00 and 4012.20.00, pesticides that are prohibited in their places of origin, wine products in bottles of a capacity exceeding 5 litres, hazardous residues, scrap or waste material, used automobiles and autoparts.
Import Restrictions: used articles of garments of tariff headings NCM 6309.00.10, 6309.00.90, used instruments, machinery, appliances, parts thereof and transport material (NCM chapters 84- 90), except parts and (or) components of goods that have been rebuilt by their original manufacturer, with a certificate of guarantee from the manufacturer.
Products, which require customs valuation: electrical appliances, mobile phones, bicycles, communications equipment, metal furniture and inflatable boats.
Pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, veterinary, medical, cleaning, personal hygiene products have to be registered with the Argentine Health Authorities by a licensed importer. Temporary imports and samples of the abovementioned products require special import licences.
Documents Required: commercial invoices (4 copies), original bill of lading, airway bill or parcel post receipt (depending on the way of shipping), packing list, certificates of origin are required for number of items (textiles, clothing etc.).
All imports subject to Minimum specific duties (known as DIEM), safeguards or manufactured in a non-WTO member country (including China for the time being) must be accompanied by a detailed certificate of origin issued by a Chamber of Commerce and legalised by the Argentine consulate in the country where the goods have been manufactured. Additional documentation such as a validated copy of the original invoice is also required for all products manufactured in non-WTO member countries.
Shipping documents should be prepared in Spanish, but English is usually acceptable.
Import Duties
Argentine Customs stick to the Harmonised System (HS) for classification of goods. The import duties are ad-valorem and are founded on the CIF value.
Minimum specific duties (DIEM) are used to define the ad-valorem duties on textiles, garments and footwear and are expressed in US$ per kilograms.
A statistical tax of 0.5 % of CIF value is levied on imports from non-MERCOSUR countries of raw materials, intermediate and consumer goods but not for capital items, IT and telecommunications facilities.
Value Added Tax (IVA) of 21 % is levied on import products and on locally manufactured goods. Importers also pay 10 % prepayment of VAT and a 3 % withholding tax on anticipated profits. Both of these are tax credits on production of the VAT return.
Excise duties are levied upon various goods, both locally manufactured and imported, and these charges change from time to time. The product categories, which fall under excise duties include alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, cigarettes, planes, vehicles, leisure boats, satellite and mobile equipment and luxury goods such (carpets, jewellery, and goods made of fur).
Labelling/Packaging
Importation of textiles, garments and footgear are subject to special labelling requirements and are carefully monitored by Customs of Argentina. The label must be in Spanish and contain material content, care instructions, registration number of importer, country of origin and so on. Food products, pharmaceutical, cleaning products and cosmetics must be registered with the Argentine health power and require a similar label listing the ingredients, expiration date and all importer details.
Due to the Commercial Loyalty Law, packaged products sold in the country need to include (in a visible place on the package or label) the product description; the country of manufacture; its quality, purity or composition; and its net size. If the products are not packaged it is not mandatory to indicate size, nor, when simple observation shows the product type, description and size. This information must be in Spanish and sizes must be metric (kilograms, litres, metres) although additional units may also be included. |
