The General Directorate of Customs (DGA) prevented the smuggling of 9.288 bottles of wine in the province of Misiones (northeast), after detecting irregularities in the merchandise marketing chain and lack of documentation.
According to the DGA, the actions were carried out on Monday (20.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX) in the city of Posadas. It would be a maneuver aimed at the illegal trade of the merchandise to the towns of Brazil. The organization headed by Guillermo Michel confirmed that, from that city in Misiones, parcel shipping signatures They intended to place an exorbitant amount of bottles of top brands in locations located on the northeastern border of the country without sufficient documentation to support the maneuver. In addition, due to their price and quantity, the merchandise did not correspond to the level of consumption typical of those places.
Detail of banned bottles
Specifically, the DGA banned 1.130 cajas of 6 wines each, whose price per bottle is around 7 thousand pesos; 350 cajas of 4 wines, with a price per bottle of 11,5 thousand pesos and, finally, 960 bottles with a unit value of around 18,5 thousand pesos. Likewise, it also seized 148 bottles of Chilean wine, worth 20 thousand pesos per unit, whose legitimate entry into the national territory could not be demonstrated, which is why it is understood that they were imported into Argentina through smuggling.
Thus, the estimated value of the seized merchandise - which mostly consists of wines from prestigious labels — amounts to $84.280.000.
The DGA commented that “such a level of bottle stockpiling at border points is extremely suspicious, given that it greatly exceeds the consumption capacity of localities such as Bernardo de Irigoyen and Puerto Iguazú.”
He also clarified that the Customs calculation does not only take into account the number of people living in the places mentioned, but also the consumption that Brazilian tourists might make when visiting Argentina. “Even so, it was not credible that the stock of bottles pointed to local consumption – especially when the labels found corresponded to a public with high purchasing power,” he added.
In the words of the DGA: “The intention behind the detected maneuvers was to export the contraband bottles through unauthorized land crossings, so that after several trips with small quantities, when the warehouses on Brazilian land accumulated enough merchandise, it would be transported to large cities such as Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Florianópolis, where its value can quadruple.”
Brazilians have long since discovered the benefits of the excellent wine produced in Argentina. According to the press release, this significant margin, coupled with the great demand from Brazilian consumers for Argentine wines, is what currently motivates this type of operation. “The wine market in Brazil is growing by leaps and bounds and in recent years it has established itself as the Latin American country that imports the most wine,” he added.
Based on this, Customs is deepening control to reduce the proliferation of improper maneuvers and channel the export of wines within formal channels. In this regard, he recalled that said merchandise owns the Simplified regime.
Finally, the DGA referred to the relevance of the security in the logistics chain, which covers everything from the producer to the consumer. “Smuggling negatively affects the image of national production, since the lack of traceability of the merchandise exposes it to poor storage and transportation conditions. As a result, it is not possible to guarantee the quality of the product that reaches the hands of consumers, nor its sanitary conditions,” he concluded.
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.
