The upcoming elections of the Centro Despachantes de Aduana (CDA) will provide a new opportunity to reverse professional disengagement, job losses and the closure of sources of work. And this could happen with the participation of two or three lists that promote biased perspectives for the defense of professional interests, but also with the officialization of a single list, thus unifying criteria and wills.
Why is it necessary to form a united CDA?
For 20 years, while private sectors have been promoting the training of new customs agents, state officials have been creating import and export regimes that not only restrict the work of these professionals, but also weaken that of the Customs itself. They do so without considering that the problems that increase the cost and hinder the agile and properly controlled clearance of operations arise, mainly, from the rules that they themselves dictate to authorize permit holders and regulate customs procedures. And from the actions of some of their managers when interpreting them.
It is enough to remember the AFIP RG 333/99, by which importers and exporters can replace the customs agent with subjects who do not have to prove suitability, nor provide guarantees for the faithful fulfillment of their obligations. Or the AFIP RG 3628/14, which grants customs transport agents (contrary to art. 57.1 of law 22.415) the possibility of representing importers and exporters before Customs and, in addition, authorizes officials (in open opposition to the AFIP Code of Ethics) to become customs agents.
Without leaving aside, of course, the simplified export and import regimes that allow large logistics service companies to dispatch through their employees and for Customs to control their destinations through a system (lax and different from the general regime) that the Ministry of Security exposed when it discovered smuggling of pink cocaine and ecstasy crystal, among others.
By: Jorge Safe, Customs Broker and International Trade Advisor
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.
