Guarantee Regime: New Speedier Summary Procedure to Obtain Customs Clearance

Section 954 of the Customs Code provides for sanctions on importers/exporters that make an inaccurate statement which, if it went unnoticed, could have incurred fiscal damages. They are subsection a) avoided a prohibition; and subsection b) and/or a different amount to be correspondingly paid to the operator’s counterparty. If Customs has reasonable doubt about the declaration made, it does have the right to halt the operation and retain the goods in custody to prevent any fiscal damages.

When the importer/exporter maintains a different criterion, Section 453.h) establishes the rules for the guarantee regime that allow customs clearance until the detention is finally decided in the summary proceedings.

Through General Resolution No. 4526/19, the Argentine Tax Authority sought to redesign the procedures currently in force and set up a faster procedure to process those alleged inaccurate statements sanctioned in the Customs Code. Under this new regulation, once the customs officer blocks the declaration in the electronic system and files the corresponding allegation, the operator is automatically notified and may choose one of three options: paying for the alleged infraction; having customs clearance under the guarantee regime; or continuing the summary proceedings without any action by the importer/exporter at this stage.

If the operator chooses to continue the proceedings under the regular procedure and/or Customs considers there has been a violation of a prohibition under Section 954.b) of the Customs Code, Customs will only assign the docket file number and send the proceedings to the corresponding area. When the importer/exporter chooses to make the full payment or to set up a guarantee, the company’s officer must access the Customs website (Sistema Informático de Trámites Aduaneros) and select how the proceedings will continue.

Once the company has made the voluntary payment, the main consequence is that there will be no record of the infraction for the operator (as regulated in the general regime).

If the importer/exporter chooses to set up a guarantee to get customs clearance, the new procedure is speedier than before.

Until this General Resolution was published the importer/exporter had to wait for the instructor to study the proceedings, file a brief requesting customs clearance and then wait again until the requested had been processed. This new way of carrying out procedures intends to be speedier as the importer/exporter may obtain customs clearance almost automatically. For importers/exporters, this new regulation may allow them to continue  with their summary proceedings and reduce their overall storage costs.