The Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) presented by the President of the Nation, Javier Milei, provided for the repeal of the so-called Land Law, in force since December 2011. Now, on the proposal of the former fighters of the Malvinas Center La Plata Islands (CECIM) , the Federal Justice of La Plata issued a precautionary measure with which it “preventatively” suspended the aforementioned article of the DNU.
consulted by Clarin rural, The president of the Chamber of Rural Real Estate Companies (CAIR) José María Bauzá said that the issue now concerns Justice, but said that it is a demand “more ideological than technical”. “We as a Chamber We do not agree with the obstacles the country has for investment and development. A business that has obstacles obviously gets slowed down, the only thing they do is delay and slow down the economic development of the country,” she said.
In its proposal, CECIM claims that with the repeal of the law “the land market is freed, allowing their estrangement, with landowner dynamicswhich undermine the principles of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, affecting not only the availability of Argentine soil, but also of freshwater courses.”
And he adds: “The DNU represents a clear interference by the Executive Power in the sphere of the powers of the Legislative Power, especially if one takes into account that this rule openly contradicts the will expressed by the legislators in sanctioning it. The National Executive has violated the principles of the republican organization repealing, by decree of necessity and urgency, a rule dictated by the Legislative Power without having demonstrated the necessary extremes to do so.
Among other things, the land law establishes a 15% limit on all ownership or tenure of rural land in the national territory for non-Argentine natural and legal persons. It is currently estimated that 6% of the territory is in foreign hands. Furthermore, the Law places a limit on the purchase of fields by foreigners of 1,000 hectares in the central area or an equivalent surface area based on the territorial location, which is determined by the Inter-Ministerial Council of Rural Lands based on their location, quality and proportion with respect to the municipality or province that compose them.
“It would be much more interesting to talk about use than extension. “If you are a foreigner and you buy 2,000 hectares and make them productive, you provide work, you generate development… Why stop it?”, says Bauzá, and explains that in the short period between the repeal of the law and the precautionary measure, some consultations but there has been no concrete progress on any foreign purchasing operations.
“No special movement was observed. There were consultations, but A foreign investment does not just pass through a land law. We also look at the development of the country, it depends on the improvement we have at an institutional level, on legal security”, she explains.
The law in question prohibits the ownership of land that borders large and permanent bodies of water. and properties located in border security zones.
In June 2016, under the government of Mauricio Macri, several changes to the said law were introduced through decree 820/2016. Among the most relevant points, he clarified the concept of a foreign person (natural or legal) as the one who directly or indirectly constitutes the majorityregardless of his shareholding and establishes a presumption of non-involvement in the event that a foreign person holds 51% of the share capital of the legal person.
It was also required to report to the National Registry of Rural Lands any changes in the participation of legal entities considered extraneous. The decree also gave the Interministerial Council the power to modify the equivalences established by the provinces so that they are reasonable from the point of view of the type of exploitation and jurisdiction.
On the other hand, it provided that the rights acquired by foreigners who own rural land before the law came into force will not be affected and that, if they want to sell it, they will be able to purchase an equivalent extension even if it exceeds the established limit of 1,000 hectares. from the norm.
Source: Clarin
