New Restrictions on Import Payments, and Extension of Restrictions on the Payment of Foreign Financial Indebtedness

On March 3, 2022, the Argentine Central Bank (the “BCRA,” after its acronym in Spanish) issued Communique “A” 7466 extending until December 31, 2022, the effectiveness of the provisions regarding payments of foreign financial indebtedness to related parties and the refinancing of foreign liabilities. In addition, it extended from 90 to 180 calendar days the term between the date of the customs’ registration of the entry to Argentina and the access to the foreign exchange market for the payment of certain imports of goods.

The BCRA established that it will be incorporated into the Import Monitoring Integral System (“SIMI”, after its acronym in Spanish), together with the Ministry of Production and the Argentine Tax Authority (“AFIP”) and that it will be able to assign a specific category related to the way of accessing the foreign exchange market.

The BCRA will classify transactions with SIMI either under category A, which maintains the current  treatment for the associated transactions without change, or under category B, which implies that the associated imports of goods must be financed at least within a term of 180 days as from the registration of customs clearance. This regulation means that, in addition to the existing measures, to access the foreign exchange market for the payment of imports  that have a customs clearance record in the SEPAIMPO, it will be necessary to have the declaration in the SIMI.

The category A SIMI amount that BCRA will allocate to each importer for the year 2022 will be equivalent to the lesser of :

(a) the FOB value of its imports for the year 2021 plus 5%.

(b) the FOB value of its imports for the year 2020 plus 70%.

The imports registered in the importer's name in the SEPAIMPO system that granted access to the foreign exchange market will be considered for the calculation of the FOB value of imports for the years 2020 and 2021, with some exclusions. If there is no record of imports in the previous two years or if the amount resulting from the indicated calculation is lower, at the de minimis value is set at the equivalent of US$ 50,000.

Even if the SIMI falls under category B, some groups of goods are expressly exempted from the 180-day waiting period to access the FX market.