The General Directorate of Customs (DGA) established new reference prices for the export of eight cuts of beef"a tool that allows for the detection of potential underbilling maneuvers," the agency reported today.
La General Resolution 5054/2021 which is published in the Official Gazette sets reference values for the export of needle, marucha, narrow steak, peceto, turtle, rump, which are added to those already in force for the sale abroad of 20 cuts of beef.
To move forward with the measure, Customs worked with representatives of the private sector and other national government agencies.
"We are working together with other areas of the Government to identify illegal maneuvers that affect tax revenues and also add tension to the exchange market," said the head of Customs, Silvia Traverso.
Based on the analysis of various production complexes and industries, Customs began to reestablish reference values last year and there are now 15 groups of products with reference prices.
The DGA's decision to set reference values not only seeks to dismantle possible tax evasion maneuvers and abusive practices that affect the entry of foreign currency into the exchange market, but also to provide clear rules for operators.
The decision to establish reference values for meat is part of the policies adopted by the Government for the sector and is added to the different control and inspection measures on meat packing plants and foreign trade implemented by the different AFIP departments such as the DGI and Customs.
At the end of May, the DGA reported 19 meat packing plants that carried out fraudulent meat export operations and the total fines imposed by the agency amount to close to US$ 6 million.
In addition to the measures taken by Customs, DGI has initiated inspections of the 150 largest meat processing plants in the country, where under-invoicing and/or failure to declare operations were identified in nine out of 10 of the establishments inspected.
The destination countries for beef exports for which the new reference prices have been established are China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan.
The regulations indicate that the reference values offer "a first check of the declarations to safeguard the fiscal interest" and that this seeks to "detect deviations from the usual values for identical or similar merchandise"«.
This definition is in addition to the reestablishment of 15 other product complexes for which reference values were already set since December 2019.
Reference values were established for exports of lemons and limes, hides and skins, pears, apples, garlic, pork, pear tomatoes, concentrated must, blueberries, powdered milk, onions, potatoes, raisins, sea bass and beef.
Reference values are an instrument that had been dismantled during the previous government: In December 2015 there were more than 20 groups of products with reference values but the previous government carried out a gradual dismantling until, in November 2017, it repealed the regulations that allowed them to be established, recalled the DGA.
Source: Telam
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