Customs agents requested the proper documentation of the merchandise displayed for sale and found infractions in no less than 1,390 products, including thermoses, mates, thermal bottles, and perfumes.
Within the framework of article 123 of the Customs Code, specialized agents of the General Directorate of Customs They carried out controls on 14 businesses belonging to the same firm, in order to verify the legal possession and legitimate entry into the market of merchandise of foreign origin. The stores, located in the City of Buenos Aires, sold gift products.
Customs agents requested the proper documentation of the merchandise displayed for sale and found infractions in no less than 1,390 products, including thermoses, mates, thermal bottles, and perfumes.
Specifically, the lack of tax stamps —the presence of which is required by article 986 of the Customs Code— allowed us to presume that they had been improperly imported.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the use of many of the infringing merchandise involves direct contact with food. Within this framework, the lack of certification from the National Food Institute (INAL) — dependent on the ANMAT — constitutes an additional infraction. The endorsement of said body requires the study of the material, its contaminants and the possible passage of undesirable substances into food. Thus, given the lack of prior certifications, it could not be guaranteed that they were not harmful to people’s health.
For all these reasons, within the framework of articles 986 and 987 of Law 22,415, the General Directorate of Customs proceeded to seize the 1,390 infringing products, added to the provisional closure of four stores —three located on Florida Street and one , at Av. Roque Sáenz Peña—, under the terms of article 989 of the aforementioned regulations.
In short, the firm could be fined up to 5 times the value of the seized merchandise —approximately $64,120,000.
Source: Ambito
