The data will serve to dismantle maneuvers of over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports.
The Government will receive customs information from the United States in a systematic manner starting in May. This is data that until now had to be obtained through court orders. The novelty arose from the meeting between the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa and the head of Customs Guillermo Michel with the deputy director of Homeland Security Investigations, Ricardo Mayoral. The improvement in the exchange of data will serve to dismantle the maneuvers of over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports.
Faced with what could become the worst drought in the last century that could cost the country some US$20 billion this year, one of the main problems of the Argentine economy is worsening: the lack of dollars. It is a kind of circle because the shortage of foreign currency puts more pressure on the exchange rate gap, which in turn fuels maneuvers to illegally obtain the banknotes that the Central Bank distributes to importers at official prices.
As this media reported this Monday, Customs detected overinvoicing of imports for more than US$1,650 million in less than a year. This practice is one of the maneuvers that companies use to do business with the currency gap. Usually, the “triangulation” mechanism: merchandise that comes from China is re-invoiced through a third country, in general USAand banks from that country are used to generate a currency differential that is not entered into the country or is entered through parallel circuits.
Consequently, the organism that conducts William Michel intensified controls and multiplied by four the level of fines, but from now on it will have one more instrument. After the meeting that he held together with Massa and the deputy director of Homeland Security Investigations, Ricardo Mayoral, it was confirmed that the Government will receive customs information from the United States in a systematic way as of May.
This means that The level of data received from that country will be significantly improved. What until now depended on the ruling of a judge can be done automatically. The data is not minor since, as was said, a large part of the overbilling operations are triangulated by the United States.
“Starting in May we will receive information from the Trade and Transparency Unit more regularly, something essential to jointly ensure the transparency of international trade,” Michel confirmed after the meeting. In this sense, he explained that “the information provided by that body has already allowed the dismantling of irregular maneuvers in an emblematic case such as that of NRG, a firm that overinvoiced imports of capital goods for US$232 million.”
Finally, the official announced that “There are negotiations” to have an Argentine Customs delegate in Miamiwhich would make it possible to analyze the information provided by the United States more quickly.
Source: Ambito
