To prevent the use of “folders” and companies “without economic substance” that are created to carry out irregular grain operations and not settle the foreign currency to the country, Customs implemented an early warning this Thursday (17.11.2022).
"Our goal is to ensure a level playing field for genuine exporters and agricultural producers who invest in the country and pay their taxes., preventing the legitimate efforts of the countryside from being turned into financial gain for speculators. We have to take care of the dollars for the national industry and the generation of employment," said Michel at the event organized by the Professional Council of Economic Sciences of the city of Buenos Aires.
General Instruction No. 7 of 2022
For his part, the head of the AFIP, Carlos Castagneto, said that “General Instruction No. 7 The system that establishes this system is intended to maximize fiscal order." He gave as an example that last Monday a record seizure of illegal soybeans was achieved in the north of the country.
"We detected that 71% of electronic consignment notes destined for Misiones were cancelled. This measure is one more tool to combat these irregular operators," he added.
Meanwhile, Michel explained that monitoring will allow Customs, in conjunction with AFIP, to exchange information with the BCRA and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in real time and detect maneuvers involving non-settlement of foreign currency.
He added: “If the company wants to continue operating, it must guarantee the foreign currency with a surety bond or a guarantee, otherwise it will be suspended as a precautionary measure from the exporter registry until it duly justifies the non-settlement of foreign currency.”
Customs' work on irregular exporters
The first group of these irregular exporters that are being worked on includes: 50 grain exporting companies which did not settle USD 315 million. These companies have already been suspended from the exporter registry and will not be able to continue operating.
The irregular maneuver is strongly concentrated in the Top 10 exporters suspended which account for more than 77% of unsettled currencies.
Sources following the investigation from Customs indicated that the next step is to investigate the financial capacity of each of the companies and report them for non-settlement of foreign currency and, if applicable, for money laundering, notifying the UIF of this.
The Customs Office went further and stated that "since many of the financial operations 'touched' US banks, we are evaluating moving forward so that through the legal mechanisms available to the UIF, investigations are activated in FinCEN (the office of the United States Department of the Treasury that carries out the duties of the Financial Intelligence Unit)."
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