Restrictions on Air and Sea Transport due to Coronavirus

Air transport

As a first measure, and to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Argentine Executive issued Executive Decree No. 260/2020, which provided, along with other health emergency measures, for the temporary suspension of international passenger flights from the affected areas for a period of 30 days. The implementing authority [i.e., the Ministry of Health] was authorized to extend or shorten the time limit, depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation.

Following the provisions, the Ministry of Transport issued Resolutions No. 64/2020 and No. 71/2020 by means of which it also prohibited all domestic commercial flights and general aviation air transport services.

Both regulations were later extended by Resolution No. 73/2020 of the Ministry of Transport for the duration of the mandatory isolation ordered by the Argentine Government.

However, later on, the National Civil Aviation Administration (the “ANAC”, after its acronym in Spanish) issued Resolutions No. 143 and No. 144 by which it authorized airlines operating passenger air transport services from, to or within the national territory to reschedule and sell air tickets with a start date of operations on September 1, 2020. Therefore, the suspension of flights previously imposed under Decree 260/2020 and Resolution No. 73  was extended de facto until September 1.

Specifically, Resolution No. 143 indicates that the scheduling of regular passenger flights under the Aeronautical Regulations of Civil Aviation (RAAC) Part 121, which had been duly approved by the ANAC have become invalid. Consequently, it established that airlines may only sell passenger air transport services from, to or within the national territory, only if they are formally authorized in accordance with the procedures approved by Resolution No. 100.

Consequently, the promotion and/or marketing of scheduled and/or non-scheduled passenger air transport services in violation of the provisions, will be subject to the sanctions provided for in Decree No. 326/1982, which regulates the Aeronautical Code.

Airlines seeking authorization to operate under the terms of Resolution No. 100/2020 must prove that the flight for which authorization is sought is for humanitarian reasons of repatriation of its citizens or residents of the flag country or of the foreign carrier. In the case of domestic flights, they must demonstrate that the request is for health or humanitarian reasons or is necessary for the performance of essential tasks in the context of the emergency.

In particular, Resolution No. 144 made it clear that the rescheduling and authorizations referred to will be subject to the effective lifting of the restrictions imposed on commercial air transport and to the operating procedures that may be established in due course based on the orderly exit of the emergency generated by the Coronavirus.

It should be noted that none of the Resolutions indicate precisely the reasons why the Authority set the date indicated in the regulation.

The ANAC also established through Resolution No. 102/2020 that companies performing aerial work may only carry out their activity if it is essential, as established in Decree No. 297/20.

 

Prohibition of entering Argentine territory

Executive Decree No. 274/20 issued by the Argentine Executive prohibiting the entry of non-resident foreigners to the country through any airport, port, international passage, border center or any other access point remains in force. On August 2, the ban was extended up to and including August 16, although it may be extended or shortened by the Ministry of the Interior.

The National Directorate of Migration was authorized to make exceptions in order to meet circumstances of need. Thus, for example, such Directorate issued Order No. 1709/2020, exempting from the prohibition on entry foreigners who enter the country for the sole purpose of continuing their journey to another country, provided that certain conditions set out therein are met. To this end, it provided that foreigners must do so only through the health corridor that is established in each case, according to the circumstances of the case, and provided that they are asymptomatic, show the confirmed departure ticket and comply with the recommendations and instructions provided by the national health authority.

As for persons arriving in the country who have transited through the countries affected by the pandemic, they must remain isolated for 14 days. In addition, those arriving must provide information on their itinerary, provide their address in the country and undergo a medical examination to determine the potential risk of contagion and the preventive actions to be taken. Non-compliance with the obligations set in the Decree regarding isolation will be considered a criminal offence.

In addition, the Ministries must support the health authorities at the country's entry points for border health duties, when this is necessary to detect, evaluate, and refer cases suspected of being compatible with Covid-19.

The mentioned Decree also authorizes the Ministry of Transport, through the Regulatory Agency of the National Airport System (the “ORSNA”, after its acronym in Spanish), or the Undersecretariat of Navigable Ports and the Merchant Navy, as well as the Ministries of Security and the Interior, to designate, together with the Ministry of Health, safe air, sea and land corridors, if certain points of entry into the country are identified as having the best basic conditions to prevent the spread of the virus.

As for the transport of goods, to allow the normal supply of essential inputs, the Decree No. 274/2020 clarifies that the prohibition of entry and the obligation to comply with the mandatory isolation corresponding to Decree No. 260/2020 does not apply to persons engaged in the transfer of goods on international trade operations of transport of cargo by air, land, sea, river and lake; carriers and crew members of ships and aircraft; and persons engaged in the operation of flights and sanitary transfers.

In this regard, the Ministry informed, by means of an official notice, that the transport of national and international cargo, in all its modalities: air, land, sea, river, lake; is authorized to circulate.

In all exemption cases it must be verified that the persons are asymptomatic and comply with the health recommendations, both inside and outside the country.

Land and maritime transport

The Ministry of Transport provided for the essential hygiene conditions in land and maritime transport through the Resolution No. 60/2020.

Within the main measures set by this Resolution, three crisis and prevention COVID-19 committees were created: for the Railway Transport, Land Transport, and River, Sea and Lake Transport. The latter in the orbit of the Sub Secretariat of Ports, Waterways and Merchant Navy. These Committees are integrated by representatives from each of the sectors involved, including health providers, representative chambers of the sectors, union associations, and any other entity or person with competence in the subject.

The tasks of the Committees are to disseminate information to the users of the transport system, provide knowledge about prevention measures, train the personnel of the different areas, request the collaboration of the transport service providers to promote the detection and management of cases, coordinate the work with local institutions that are affected to the assistance of patients and have all the measures that it considers convenient and necessary to comply with the Resolution.

The measure also establishes the obligation of the Operators of Land, Railway, Maritime, River and Lake Transport Services under National Jurisdiction to increase actions aimed at maintaining the essential hygiene conditions of vehicles, rolling stock and vessels in service. The same actions are extended to the bus, railway, multi-purpose and port terminal stations.

Furthermore, the Resolution establishes that Operators, Concessionaires and/or  providers of the mentioned transport services must show posters and/or information provided by the Ministry of Health. In the case of vehicles, rolling stock or vessels that have audiovisual equipment, they must broadcast, at the beginning of each journey, the video or recording provided by the National Commission for Transport Regulation or the Sub Secretariat of Ports, Waterways and Merchant Navy, as appropriate. That video or audio must be transmitted also in the bus, railway, multi-purpose and port terminals.

It is also required that the Cargo Transport Operators implement the preventive measures and actions that tend to care service personnel.

In this regard, on July 15, 2020 the Undersecretariat of Ports, Waterways and Merchant Marine instructed all companies/shipowners/agents who perform essential activities within water transport, to have a COVID-19 protocol and contingency plan, which provides for the logistics of future safe corridors to be used if a risk situation is detected.

The Undersecretariat also indicated that, prior to the embarkation of crews, they must submit said protocol to the port authorities involved, to the jurisdictional health authority, to the Argentine Coastguard and to the Crisis and Prevention Committee mentioned above.

Moreover, the General Port Administration also ordered the suspension until August 2, 2020 of all terms related to citations, transfers, views, or notifications, whatever the means used, as well as legal or regulatory in all the procedures of its competence which were in progress on the day that the Decree No. 260/2020 was published.

Finally, it should be noted that the social, preventive and mandatory isolation and the general prohibition to circulate imposed by Decree No. 297/2020, and extended by the Decrees No. 325/2020, No. 355/2020, No. 408/2020, No. 459/2020, 493/2020, 520/2020, 576/2020, 605/2020 and 641/2020 now only applies to the City of Buenos Aires, the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, the province of Jujuy, and to certain departments of  the provinces of La Pampa, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.

In order not to disrupt the supply of essential goods and services and under the most recently issued Administrative Decisions, the latest DNU 641/2020 provides for some significant exceptions in the field of transport. In effect, persons affected by certain activities considered essential, such as air traffic control, undelayable activities related to foreign trade and public transport of passengers, transport of goods, oil, fuel and LPG, are exempted., the operations of  airports were also exempted; production for export –with prior authorization of the Ministry of Productive Development–, and continuous industrial processes. In the rest of the locations of the country “social distancing” was ordered, thus authorizing the movement of people only within the limits of each county.

Similarly, for locations where isolation is still mandatory, DNU 641/2020 authorized provincial governors to allow new exceptions to compliance with mandatory social isolation, as well as to the prohibition of circulation, to authorize industrial, service, commercial, social, sports and recreational activities in municipalities with less than 500,000 inhabitants.

For those with more than 500,000 inhabitants, governors of the provinces and the Head of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, may request the Chief of Ministers to authorize further exceptions. To do so, they must indicate the protocol to be implemented for the operation of the respective activity and may adhere to one of the protocols included in the Annex to DNU 459/2020.

Among them are those protocols prepared by the Association of Metallurgical Industries of the Argentine Republic (the “ADIMRA”, after its acronym in Spanish) and by the Chamber of the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry (the “CIQyP”, after its acronym in Spanish).

If the protocol of the intended activity is not included, the governor must propose a protocol.

 

Expansion and reinforcement of contingency plans in Argentine international ports

On March 27, 2020 the Ministry of Transport published an official notice in the Official Gazette, in which the Ministry informed that it had communicated to the Port Authorities the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health for the expansion and reinforcement of contingency plans in Argentine international ports, in consideration of the current Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it establishes the procedure to be followed when a ship with a possible case arrives to Argentine international ports, in accordance with the Protocol.

In order to guarantee the health of the population in relation to the personnel that operate in port terminals, the Ministry instructed port terminals for international transport to arrange, within 72 hours of publication of the official notice, functioning Health Posts located in a place to be determined in consultation with the health authorities of the jurisdiction, at their expense.

The Health Posts must have the appropriate conditions to provide health care to the crews who demand it and/or to those who carry out their tasks in the port, in order to guarantee the functioning of Foreign Trade.

 

Health and Safety Protocols in river, sea and lake transport

The National Protocol of the Crisis Committee for river, sea and lake transport was published in the Official Gazette on March 20, 2020 by the Ministry of Transport.

In the first place, the Protocol establishes that any suspected case must be reported to Border Health and notified to the port administration. Likewise, it determines that the crisis Committee must also be notified, through the shipping companies. The captain must make the relevant documentation available to the health authorities on behalf of the ship owner.

The Protocol is addressed to all parties related to river, maritime and lake transport and to the merchant navy, and considers as essential personnel those individuals involved in such activities who carry out operational and security tasks, as well as all individuals who carry out operational and control tasks of national organizations such as Customs, SENASA and ANMAT with jurisdiction to guarantee the loading or unloading transport of goods.

In order to demonstrate that their work is considered “essential”, such individuals must travel with the passbook, card, certificate or credential of the activity and a note from their employer that certifies it.

The Protocol also authorizes Argentine employees from shipping companies and maritime agencies to circulate, for which they, as well as the essential workers, must carry a note from their employer certifying that such person work is related to foreign trade and transport services.

As for the Argentine crew, they are authorized to circulate between their homes and the ports of embarkation and disembarkation and the company’s offices by presenting their boarding pass, personal ID and a note from their employer that certifies that the service to be provided is considered essential. The same requirements apply to the Argentine employees of companies that carry out dredging works and assist vessels in case of stranding and/or salvage or that repair ships linked to the supply of fuel necessary to guarantee trade.

The Protocol also requires ports to have a COVID-19 contingency plan that is publicly known and available to all parties, which can be consulted on the website of the Ministry of Transport. Furthermore, it sets forth the general preventive measures to be performed both on ships and in port facilities. In the event of non-compliance with the isolation measures, any interested person must initiate criminal actions.

In particular, the operational preventive measures for the crew, the pilot and the ground personnel that provide services on board are established. In the first place, all crew changes are suspended, except in cases of extreme necessity, in which the agencies must present a medical evaluation certificate to the authorities. In the case of an Argentine crew that in the last 14 days has transited through affected areas, such crew must comply with the isolation health protocols. In addition, only the crew members who carry out an activity directly related to loading or unloading may circulate on deck, and it is prohibited to circulate in the port facility.

In the second place, pilots must wear protective clothing and are obliged to disinfect the boats. At the time of boarding, the pilot they must provide three crew members on the ship for the boarding assistance task. The Protocol expressly sets forth that the pilot's activity constitutes an essential service, exempt from border closures, and deemed essential for supply and trade.

Indeed, on July 30, the Ministry of Transport together with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Security approved the Unified Protocol for pilotage and related activities required by the Crisis Committee for River, Maritime and Lake Transport in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic

Furthermore, the National Protocol also establishes the individuals that are forbidden to enter the vessels (ships, barges and tugs) or ports and provides protection measures regarding ship services, such as the prohibition of landing waste and/or other non-disposable materials.

Finally, the Protocol sets forth the duty of each port to have a defined location and transfer units for any detected crisis situation and foresees that, if possible, safe corridors for trucks, personnel and authorities must be established. It also provides that the provisions of all types necessary to protect individuals if their quarantine is decreed will be in the remit of the Maritime Agency.

Recently, the Crisis Committee for River, Sea and Lake Transport worked on a draft Protocol for National Cabotage in waters under national jurisdiction in conjunction with the various agencies involved in interprovincial and/or intra-provincial water transport. The project is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Health and the National Coastguard.

 

Protocol of application in the Port of Buenos Aires

On April 2, the AGP approved, through Provision No. 36/2020, the Protocol of application in the area of the Port of Buenos Aires in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Among other measures, the Protocol establishes the obligation for all vessels coming from abroad, both for cargo and passengers, to present to the Health Authorities the “Maritime Health Declaration” which establishes the sanitary conditions of the vessel upon arrival, plus the corresponding information according to the origin and all that is required to evaluate the sanitary situation of its crew and passengers, if applicable.

No vessel coming from the last port of origin abroad may take up quay without prior authorization and intervention by Border Health

Furthermore, if the ship comes from areas affected by the pandemic, or with a viral circulation, extreme care will be taken in contacts with these crew members.

If during the stay in port a suspicious case of Covid-19 is reported, the vessel must immediately halt all operations, disembark or prevent the embarkation of any personnel other than the vessel's crew and immediate intervention must be given to the National Coastguard (the “PNA”, after its acronym in Spanish), and to Border Health.

Also, in no case are non-essential maintenance tasks of the vessel from land in port, nor routine crew replacements allowed.

As this crisis is ongoing, it is expected that the Argentine authorities will continue to issue more transport provisions and measures.