"Resilience is more than just resisting, it is also learning to live"(1)
1.- Citing the objective of facilitating international trade and improving access to products for individuals, on 2.12.2024 the Government published in the Official Gazette the Decree 1965/2024 and the General Resolution 5608/2024 through which it formalized an exemption from import duties and the statistical rate for imports made through the Postal Service Providers Import Regime (PSP/Courier) when the amount does not exceed USD 400, extended the import limit from USD 1.000 to USD 3.000 and approved several operational regulations for these simplified regimes.
According to Aduana News (2) “… The Government's action has the target to improve administrative efficiency and respond more effectively to the demands of society, in an economic context that requires measures to facilitate the free circulation of goods, simplifying trade and stabilizing domestic prices".
2.- This measure seems to be framed as a new blow for customs brokers, who have already been suffering from the sanction of DNU 70/2023, by which, among other things, their registration was eliminated and their intervention could be replaced by a simple "declarant" who does not have the same obligations and duties.
In this sense, this growing deregulation in the customs field, presented as a means to facilitate international trade, forces us to think about the challenges inherent in the implementation of such measures (3), as well as the role that customs brokers could adopt.
3.- Thus, the purpose of this brief comment is not to analyze the scope of these new provisions or their legality, reasonableness or convenience, but simply to reflect on another option that customs brokers have in the face of this new reality that presses them.
Resilience is understood as the universal human capacity to face life's adversities, overcome them or even be transformed by them (4).
That is to say, faced with this new regulatory (or, if you prefer, “deregulatory”) scenario, the customs broker can consider it a dead end or see it as an opportunity to grow and evolve.
4.- If it is decided to proceed with this second option, it should be able to demonstrate that, even though its intervention in a foreign trade operation may no longer be obligatory, the truth is that It is essential if you truly want reduce costs and contingencies.
It should be noted that the role of the customs agent as an auxiliary to the customs service is the key to achieving the delicate balance that must exist between facilitation and control that both companies and customs itself need to organize international trade.
In this regard, it should not be forgotten that any import and export operation involves assuming very significant economic risks and contingencies in which any error is usually paid dearly. This is not only due to the possible fines that may be generated by criminal proceedings or infringements, but also because any delay that is generated for any reason implies higher storage and return costs of the container or, alternatively, possible breaches of contract and even loss of business opportunities.
It is evident then that the more suitable and capable the person to whom the operations are entrusted, the fewer these contingencies will be.
The role of the customs agent will also enable companies to guarantee safe logistics processes, as well as compliance with the regulations and practices currently required in any “Compliance and Corporate Governance” program that may be sought.
Furthermore, its intervention is the only one that will allow the so-called "operational simplification" to be carried out through, for example, the Authorized Economic Operator Program or others that may be created in the future to reduce control and, therefore, also operating costs.
It should be noted that his status as an auxiliary of the customs service and a highly trained subject should function as a central foundation for the principle of “clearance in confidence” to operate to its fullest extent.
Finally, if other parallel and related services are added to these special conditions that only customs brokers can have, which they could also offer, they will become a comprehensive foreign trade company with a great competitive advantage, which would make them truly essential.
1.Boris Cyrulnik, The Wonder of Pain: The Meaning of Resilience. Ed. Granica, 2001
3. In this regard, much has already been written regarding the control risks generated by the possibility of mere declarants documenting import and export operations (see, for example, the so-called Punta Cana Declaration formulated by the International Association of Professional Customs Agents (ASAPRA), held on February 13, 2020 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), as well as the extra costs that importers/exporters will surely end up paying for any errors they make due to their lack of suitability.
4.Grotber, Edith (1995). The International Resilience Project: Promoting Resilience in Children, USA
Lawyer. Specialist in Criminal Law from the Universidad Austral. Professor of Customs Criminal Law at various public and private universities. Author and contributor to books and articles on this specialty. Currently, he is a partner at the Durrieu Abogados law firm, in charge of the Customs Criminal Law Department.
