More than 3 months after its entry into force, the new import system continues to generate resistance, mainly due to the obstacles that companies encounter in receiving authorization to access the dollars needed to pay for purchases abroad.
According to a survey conducted by Argentine Chamber of Commerce Among the more than 200 companies, mostly SMEs importing raw materials, intermediate goods and capital goods, most of the companies only managed to get the approval less than 25% of import licenses presented with the new SIRA system. Also, those who have obtained permission can have it delays of up to 90 days in your approval.
This situation, according to the CAC, means that 93% of the companies consulted have reduced their level of inventories and sales and their normal functioning has been compromised.
“This uncertain landscape is also aggravated by the lack of foreign financing, since the same import system requires companies, under certain conditions, that payments be made within 90 days, therefore It is necessary to have financing from abroad. In this sense, 61% of the answers indicated that they had difficulty in obtaining such financing, which further affects foreign trade operations”, reads a note from the Chamber.
Despite the situation, at the time of the survey (January 2023), 85% of the companies had not had contact with the Ministry of Commerce.
“The same Secretariat has sent all importers an Excel with ‘2023 import projections’ so that companies complete their import estimates for the current year,” added the CAC.
They indicated from the institution that the SIRAs are not the only obstacle they find in order to import. “There are other obstacles, such as the Economic Financial Capacity (Mce) and the inconveniences deriving from the Single Current Account for Foreign Trade (Ccuce)”, they explained.
NEITHER
Source: Clarin
