Argentina imposes greater control over imports

Due to the strong blow suffered by the Argentine industry in the last four years, the government resolved in the first days of January 2020, to take new measures on imports, which increase the protection of the sector and promote its recovery.

Resolution 1/2020 published in the Official Bulletin, signed by industry secretary Ariel Schale, extended to 300 tariff positions the monitoring system through non-automatic licenses. Thus, the official import control filter rises from 12 to 15%. Positions subject to non-automatic licenses increased from 1,200 to 1,500 for the industry in general. In addition, the government will apply protection criteria for national production to expedite or delay procedures. The item FOOTWEAR and MANUFACTURES is included in the same terms as the previous regime.

In practice, non-automatic licenses are tools contemplated by the WTO -World Trade Organization- that governments use to protect employment in sensitive sectors and boost the development of others.

On the other hand, the new regime reduced from 180 to 90 calendar days the validity of licenses after approval, with specific exceptions. The measure complicates imports by the shortest operational deadlines.

Not to isolation, or to the lack of supplies

From the Ministry of Productive Development, in charge of Matías Kulfas, they pointed out that “all importing companies must inform their projections by 2020, in order to take the corresponding forecasts. This does not mean generating isolation, or do not have enough of the necessary supply or product. It is to act in defense of industrial activity, consumers and against unfair practices”.

Brazil attentive to the measure

At the highest levels of leadership and companies of the footwear sector, the new import controls implemented by Argentina have caused concern.

They recognize that the regulations will hinder the entry of products, but on the fly they will evaluate their incidence. The executive president of ABICALÇADOS, Haroldo Ferreira said that "we will not anticipate the problem, but in case of difficulties we will act politically jointly with the governments to resolve the issues."

Despite the situation, Argentina continues to be the second buyer of Brazilian footwear abroad. In 2019, it bought 10 million pairs worth US $ 105 million, which represented a 15% decrease in volume and 24.7% in turnover, compared to 2018.

The largest volume of footwear imports in Argentina is in charge of the big brands, which mostly enter products of Asian origin.

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