The Chamber of Industries of Uruguay (CIU) once again claimed for a Zero kilo regulations at the border with Argentina after the announcements of new measures by the government to deal with the problem of the price gap on the coast. Meanwhile, the Executive Branch mobilized personnel from the Army and the Navy to international land bridges to maximize controls.
The measures announced by the Executive Power yesterday to try to alleviate the consequences of the exchange rate differences at the border left the industrialists with little taste, who understand that “given the seriousness of the situation, the government would have to decree zero kilos,” in the border with Argentina, “adapting the existing regulations, as it was carried out in the pandemic for a certain time, until existing controls are strengthened and pending exchange rate regularization” with the neighboring country.
For the CIU, the entry of merchandise across the border, taking advantage of the favorable price difference that exists in Argentina, fully impacts the industry and national commerce. Not only because of the significant decrease in sales, but also because of the impossibility of lowering prices in the territory due to the higher production costs in the country.
“It is urgent to take actions to correct the situation that, to date, both sectors suffer,” said the Chamber in a statement, in which they also demand the application of a policy prohibiting the entry of any merchandise into the country through land crossings; the so-called “zero kilo” policy.
In this sense, the union maintains “that today there is no strict control“of resolution 47/2021 of the National Customs Directorate (DNA) for residents of border areas, which limit entry to 5 kg of varied merchandise, and biweekly, and a maximum of $300 per month for all those who, without being border residents, cross by land, according to the provisions contained in the decree No. 43/2019, “causing higher amounts to be entered”. It is in the face of this reality that they demand stricter regulation.
A study that points to smuggling
Likewise, the CIU carried out, through its Directorate of Economic Studiesa study that showed that 35% of the industrial companies consulted responded that smuggling increased in 2022 and in the first months of 2023.
Meanwhile, 35% reported a drop in sales in the border area with Argentina, and 27% with Brazil in 2022 compared to 2021; At the same time, one in three companies reports that contraband contributed to the drop in their sales last year.
An important fact that emerges from this study is that there are sectors that have identified that contraband is supplying up to 40% of their sales, a situation that worsens depending on the region of the territory analyzed and the passage of time.
The government militarizes border controls
Almost in parallel to the announcement of the new measures to alleviate the price gap at the border and the industrial demand for a much stricter control policy that tends to zero kilograms, the government ordered that, starting this week, there will be more Army personnel and the Navy on the bridges linking Uruguay with Argentina in the city of Fray Bentos and Paysandu.
As explained by the Minister of Defender, Javier Garcia, the goal is to give support to the task of Customs control.
Garcia, who attended the Comission of Defense of the Chamber of Deputies, indicated that “we reinforced it with more personnel from the National Navy and at the same time with the presence of the National Army. The objective is to support the work carried out by the National Customs Directorate. Those who go through the bridges will see not only the presence of the Prefecture and the National Navy, but also the Army. This task is going to continue for a few weeks until the mission is reviewed,” he noted.
Source: Ambito
