Every June 1st, Argentina celebrates Customs and Customs Workers' Day, a day that invites people to reflect on Customs, the ancient institution that enforces legislation pertaining to imports and exports, as well as the control of goods entering or leaving the country.
What happened on June 1? On that date, in 1586, the first accounting record of customs duties was made, according to the oldest documents. “On the occasion of the arrival in Buenos Aires of the cargo brought by Alonso de Vera y Aragón, benefiting from the license granted to him by the king when he was commissioned by Garay to provide news to the Court of the founding of the city and promote trade in the port, the first customs act took place,” Federico Gualberto Garrel credits in his work Customs. Its Origin. Its Evolution, which was published in 1967 by Editorial IARA
Garrel describes that, on that occasion, Diego de Olavarrieta, a public official from Buenos Aires, proceeded to collect the corresponding customs duty from the captain Alfonso de Vera and other people who imported merchandise on his ship.
These documents were collected in a volume, the first page of which reads: “Book of His Majesty where the Treasurers are charged with everything that belongs to His Majesty and enters into his Royal Treasury, which is in the care of Hernando de Montalvo, Treasurer of these Provinces and Governor of the Río de la Plata since 1587”, and they show that the first entry made in it corresponds to the ship of Alonso de Vera that entered the port in the second half of 1586, without any news of the arrival of any other ship.
Today, the General Directorate of Customs is one of the three agencies that make up the Federal Public Revenue Administration (AFIP).
Its main function is the assessment, classification, verification and control of goods and their means of transport. Likewise, the agency collaborates in safeguarding national security, the economy, public health and the environment, prohibiting the flow of dangerous or illegal goods.
Therefore, 438 years after the first accounting record, the performance of the customs service in the vast territory of the Argentine Republic, which covers an area of 3.761.274 km², according to the National Geographic Institute, must be kept in mind.
The importance of Customs as a specialized administrative body that - based on its functions - must ensure the common good and constitutes a clear manifestation of the sovereignty of the State at national borders is therefore evident.
We wish all Argentine customs personnel a very happy day!
We would like to thank Héctor H. Juárez Allende for the historical data provided prior to the preparation of this article.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
