Emergency Decree No 27/2018: Amendments to the Artwork Import and Export Regime

Among these measures, the Federal Government introduced some amendments to the artwork import and export regime set forth in Law N° 24.633. From now on, the enforcement authority on these matters –including the decision whether to consider a piece of art falls under this regime or not- will be the Federal Ministry of Culture.

Furthermore, the modifications have narrowed the applicable entry and exit regimes to luggage (both accompanied and unaccompanied) and “by parcel”. It is not clear if the latter of them refers either to the postal services regime, the courier regime or both of them.

The most significant change is the simplification of the export regime on artwork which has an identified author, whether alive or deceased within the last fifty years.  Now, it is only necessary to file an ‘Export Notice’ prior to the export, rather than the ‘Export License’ previously required. The ‘Export Licence’ is  still needed to export artwork whose author is either unknown or has been deceased for more than fifty years. The ‘Export License’ may only be denied if the Federal Government or a third-party Argentine resident exercises their preemptive rights to buy such artwork. Both the ‘Export Notice’ and the ‘Export License’ are valid for a year once granted.

Lastly, the Decree states that Customs is excluded from the verification and inspection of artwork, limiting it to uphold the valuation stated by the exporter in the corresponding sworn affidavit.